Deals –

Accuride Corp., an Evansville, Ind.-based maker of trailer and heavy-duty truck wheels, has agreed to acquire Transportation Technologies Inc. (TTI), a Chicago-based maker of truck components and subassemblies. Accuride is controlled by Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co., while TTI is controlled by Trimaran Capital Partners. Following the acquisition, existing Accuride shareholders will own 65% of the combined entity’s common stock, while TTI shareholders will hold the remaining 35 percent. No pricing terms were disclosed. In related news, TTI is expected to withdraw registration papers on a pending $150 million IPO.

Bally Total Fitness Holding Corp. reportedly is considering a sale of up to 40% of the company for up to $125 million to Tennenbaum Capital Partners, Apollo Management and Texas Pacific Group. Tennenbaum already is a Bally bondholder.

BC Partners and Cinven reportedly are nearing a deal to acquire Spain-based travel reservations company Amadeus Global Travel Distribution SA for around f4.3 billion (approx. $5.63 billion). Other interested bidders are said to have included The Carlyle Group and Citigroup Venture Capital. Amadeus currently is owned by airlines Air France, Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana SA and Deutsche Lufthansa SA.

Bear Stearns Merchant Banking has acquired The John Henry Co., a Lansing, Mich.-based specialty printing and packaging company serving the pharmaceutical, horticulture and floriculture markets. No financial terms were disclosed.

Bell Sports Holding Corp., a portfolio company of Fenway Partners, has acquired Sports Instruments, an Augora Hills, Calif.-based provider of electronic performance enhancing devices for athletes, such as heart rate monitors and cycle computers. No financial terms were disclosed.

Brentwood Associates has sponsored a management buyout of Theo H. Davies & Co. Ltd. from Jardine Matheson Ltd. No financial terms were disclosed. Theo H. Davies, now renamed TD Food Group Inc., is a franchiser of Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and A&W/Long John Silver’s restaurants in Hawaii, Guam and Saipan. In related news, TD Foods has named former Baja Fresh Mexican Grill CEO Greg Dollarhyde as its new CEO.

Charlesbank Capital Partners and Grotech Capital Group have co-led a management buyout of Captain D’s Inc., a Nashville, Tenn.-based seafood restaurant chain. The only disclosed financial terms were that Wachovia Capital Markets and Wells Fargo Bank arranged $100 million in senior debt financing.

Cinemark Inc., a Plano, Texas-based movie theater operator controlled by Madison Dearborn Partners, has received a $50 million investment from Quadrangle Capital Partners, in exchange for a minority ownership position.

Cinven and French cable company Altice have agreed to purchase part of the cable business of France Telecom and Canal Plus for f528 million.

Citigroup Venture Capital has completed its acquisition of Network Communications Inc., a Lawrenceville, Ga.-based provider of real estate advertising solutions, from ABRY Partners. No financial terms were disclosed.

Conversent Communications LLC and FiberNet LLC, both facilities-based integrated communications providers, have agreed to merge. Each company will retain its respective brand identity in markets that it currently serves. No financial terms were disclosed. Conversent has received VC funding from BancBoston and Seaport Capital, while FiberNet is affiliated with The Blackstone Group, Charter Communications and Fanch Communications Inc.

Crescent Capital Investments has completed its previously-announced acquisition of the Church’s Chicken brand from AFC Enterprises Inc. (Nasdaq: AFCE). The deal is valued at $390 million, including $383 million in cash and a $7 million subordinated note.

Cradle Holdings has spun out fragrance subsidiary L’Artisan Parfumeur as an independent company. Private equity firm Fox Paine & Co. will remain the controlling shareholder of both Cradle Holdings and L’Artisan Parfumeur, with former Cradle Holdings CEO Rip Mason joining Fox Paine as a senior managing director.

The Cypress Group and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners have completed their previously-announced $1.165 billion acquisition of the Cooper-Standard Automotive unit of Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: CTB). Cooper-Standard Automotive is a manufacturer of engineered components serving the automotive OEM market.

Fidelity National Information Services Inc., a Jacksonville, Fla.-based information services subsidiary of title insurer Fidelity National Financial Inc., has withdrawn registration papers for its proposed $500 million IPO. Earlier this month, the company agreed to sell a 25% ownership position to Thomas H. Lee Partners and Texas Pacific Group for $500 million, as part of a recap that also included the issuance of $2.8 billion in senior secured credit facilities.

Francisco Partners, Golden Gate Capital and Thoma Cressey Equity Partners have completed their previously-announced acquisition of WRQ Inc., a Seattle-based maker of software that accesses and integrates legacy applications. No financial terms were disclosed.

General Atlantic Partners and Oak Hill Capital Partners have completed their previously-announced acquisition of a 60% stake in GE Capital International Services (Gecis), the global business processing operation of General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE). The two firms paid approximately $500 million in cash, with GE retaining a 40% ownership position.

GIMV and food industry veteran Chris De Wolf have teamed up to acquire both Rejo CVA and Pellicula NV, Belgium-based producers of seasonings and food ingredients, respectively. Existing family shareholders will retain a financial interest in the combined company. No financial terms were disclosed.

Halder Holdings BV has sold its position in German cosmetics packaging company Geka Brush GmbH to Equita Management. No financial terms were disclosed.

Happ Controls LLC of Elk Grove Village, Ill. and Suzo International BV of The Netherlands have agreed to merge, in order to create a global manufacturer and distributor of gaming and amusement parts and accessories with nearly 400 employees. Pfingsten Partners, which acquired Happ Controls last June, will be the combined company’s majority shareholder.

Jefferson Smurfit Group PLC has agreed to sell its Munksjo Specialty paper business to EQT Partners for approximately f450 million ($605 million).

Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co. has agreed to acquire Masonite International Corp. (NYSE: MHM), a Toronto-based building products company. Under terms of the deal, Masonite shareholders will receive Cdn$40.20 per share, for a total transaction value of approximately Cdn$3.1 billion (US$2.5 billion). Masonite management will be required to invest in approximately 5% of the equity when the deal closes in late February 2005, while The Bank of Nova Scotia has committed to provide debt financing. No equity-to-debt ratios were disclosed.

KRG Capital Partners has completed a $187 million recapitalization of portfolio company The Tensar Corp., an Atlanta-based provider of technology-driven real estate site development. The deal provides KRG investors with approximately 100% of their invested capital, while still allowing them to maintain their entire stock ownership stake in the company. GE Capital led a syndicate that provided $130 million of senior financing for the recap, while over $77 million in junior debt financing was co-led by Merrill Lynch PCG and American Capital Strategies.

Linsalata Capital Partners has acquired The Augusta Sportswear Group, an Augusta, Ga.-based provider of athletic-themed apparel, sportswear and related accessories. Company management will continue its current role, and is co-investing in the transaction. No deal terms were disclosed.

Pacific Equity Partners and GS Private Equity reportedly have agreed to acquire Emeco Pty Ltd., an Australia-based earthmoving equipment group, from parent company Darr Equipment Co. of Dallas, Texas. Various press accounts put the purchase price at around Au$450 million (US$344 million).

Petters Group Worldwide has agreed to acquire imaging company Polaroid Holding Co. (OTC BB: POHC) for $12.08 per share, or approximately $426 million in cash. One Equity Partners owns approximately 53% of Polaroid’s common stock, and has voted all its shares in favor of the deal.

Pivotal Private Equity has acquired Phoenix-based health food company M.D. Labs, and renamed it Wellements. No financial terms were disclosed.

RAG AG has confirmed earlier press reports that it has agreed to sell plastics unit HT Troplast AG to The Carlyle Group and Advent International. The deal is said to be worth approximately f300 million.

Scottish Re Group Ltd. (NYSE: SCT) has completed its previously-announced acquisition of the individual life reinsurance business of ING Re. To help finance the deal, Scottish Re raised $180 million in new capital from The Cypress Group, and an additional $50 million in preferred trust securities from undisclosed investors.

Shamrock Holdings Inc., the private investment company of the Roy E. Disney family, has completed its acquisition of the Guam Telephone Authority, which was the last government-owned local exchange carrier in the U.S. When the deal was announced last summer, it was said to be valued at $140 million in cash, plus a $10 million promissory note. CoBank of Greenwood Village, Colo. led the financing syndicate.

Sun Capital Partners has completed its previously-announced acquisition of the Performance Fibers business of Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON). No financial terms were disclosed.

Travelex PLC, a UK-based foreign currency exchange company owned by Lloyd Dorfman (63%) and 3i Group (33%) is entertaining buyout offers that could value the company at upwards of GBP 1 billion (approx. $1.9 billion).

UGS Corp., a Plano, Texas-based product lifecycle management company, has agreed to acquire Tecnomatix Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: TCNO), a provider of manufacturing process management software for the automotive, electronics and aerospace industries. The deal is valued at approximately $228 million in cash, or $17 per share. UGS was acquired last year from Electronic Data Systems Corp. (NYSE: EDS) for $2.05 billion by Bain Capital, Silver Lake Partners and Warburg Pincus.

Warburg Pincus has acquired InfoGenesis, a Santa Barbara, Calif.-based provider of IT for the hospitality and food-services industries. No financial terms were disclosed. The transaction closed on December 29, at which point InfoGenesis founder Karl Willig retired from his CEO post, and was replaced by Terry Cunningham, former president of both Seagate Software and Veritas Software.

Wilton Re Holdings Ltd., a Bermuda-based parent company of reinsurance company Wilton Re U.S. Holdings Inc., has raised more than $600 million in capital commitments via a private placement of common stock. Sponsoring investors include MMC Capital and Wilton Re chairman Chris Stroup, while other investors include Vestar Capital Partners and Friedman Fleischer & Lowe. Wilton Re U.S. Holdings expects to purchase a licensed U.S. insurance company shortly, at which point it will begin conducting business.

Argus Capital Partners has sold its 21% ownership position in Polish cable television and broadband provider Aster City Cable to existing Aster shareholder Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst for an undisclosed amount. Argus first invested in Aster City Cable in March 2003, when it teamed with Hicks Muse and the AIG Emerging Europe Infrastructure Fund to acquire the business from Elektrim Telekomunikacja.

Bain Capital has agreed to buy TeamSystem SpA from Palamon Capital Partners for an undisclosed amount, with company management also participating. Palamon originally had intended to float TeamSystem on the Milan Stock Exchange, but canceled those plans in November. TeamSystem is an Italy-based provider of accounting, tax and payroll management software.

Close Brothers Private Equity has completed its sale of caravan park operator Park Resorts to ABN AMRO Capital for GBP165 million (approx. $316 million). Close Brothers will reinvest GBP10 million of the proceeds for a minority equity position ion the combined business.

Forstmann Little & Co. has sold a portion of its holdings in Minneapolis-based Capella Education Co. for $42.5 million to Technology Crossover Ventures ($35 million) and existing Capella shareholder Maveron ($7.5 million). In other Capella news, Pearson PLC sold its position in the company for $20 million, via a $15 million sale to Insight Venture Partners and a $5 million sale to Watershed Capital.

Mill Services Corp., a portfolio company of Wellspring Capital Management, has completed its acquisition of Tube City LLC, a Glassport, Pa.-based provider of specialty services to the global steel industry. Tube City had been majority owned by Blue Point Capital Management.

Nordic Capital has agreed to acquire a majority position in Swedish car parts company Plastal AB from an ownership group led by Gilde Investment Management. No financial terms were disclosed.

Quadriga Capital has sold its position in Austrian cooling cabinet maker AHT Cooling Systems GmbH & Co KG to Equita Management. AHT management will continue to own a minority stake. No deal terms were disclosed.

The Sterling Group has sold Deer Park, Texas-based industrial cleaning services provider HydroChem Holding Inc. to an acquisition vehicle controlled by Oaktree Capital Management. No financial terms were disclosed for the deal. Harris Williams & Co. served as exclusive advisor to HydroChem and The Sterling Group.

Compiled by Dan Primack