TTI Floor Care North America, Inc., which owns the Hoover and Dirt Devil vacuum cleaner brands, has put itself up for sale, officials said. The firm, a subsidiary of Hong Kong's Techtronic Industries Co. Ltd., has hired Bank of America Merrill Lynch to advise it on a potential sale, sources told the The Wall Street Journal. The company was reportedly seeking up to $900 million, and the deal also includes Techtronic's Vax floor-care brand based in the United Kingdom, people familiar with the sale told the Journal. The brands up for sale generate about $100 million in annual sales before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. The companies will probably be sold to a private-equity buyer, the report said. Hoover is an iconic name in the vacuum cleaner business, whose history dates to 1907. Techtronic was founded in 1985 and owns a variety of businesses manufacturing such products as power tools, saws and solar-powered lighting. Techtronic reportedly purchased the floor-care business from from-appliance maker Whirlpool Corp. in 2007 for about $107 million.