VCJ Staff

Veritas Capital Partners has agreed to acquire Pearson Government Solutions (PGS) from Pearson PLC for $600 million. Pearson also will retain a minority interest in PGS, an Arlington, Va.-based provider of information and benefits solutions to national and local governments, education institutions and corporations. PGS will be renamed early next year. www.veritascapital.com www.pearson.com

WL Ross & Co. has completed its acquisition of BST Safety Textiles GmbH, a manufacturer of flat and one-piece woven fabrics for automotive air bags as well as narrow fabrics for seat belts and military and technical uses. BST operates facilities in southern Germany, Poland and Virginia, with approximately 1,250 people worldwide. No financial terms […]

J.W. Childs Associates has agreed to acquire CHG Healthcare Services Inc., a Salt Lake City- based provider of temporary physician staffing services. No financial terms were disclosed. CHG had raised $23.5 million in VC funding, including a $15 million infusion in 2003 at a $129 million post-money valuation. Shareholders include Acacia Venture Partners, Frazier Healthcare […]

Catalina Marketing Corp. (NYSE: POS) said yesterday that it has retained Goldman Sachs, in response to an “unsolicited expression of interest from a third-party private equity firm with respect to the acquisition of the company.” www.catalinamarketing.com

Wellspring Capital Management has completed its $310 million reacquisition of JW Aluminum Holding Co. from Superior Plus Income Fund. JW Aluminum is a manufacturer of flat-rolled aluminum products, and had been first acquired by Wellspring from Walter Industries in December 2003 for $125 million. Wellspring then sold the company last year for approximately $350 million. […]

UBS and Socios Financieros have narrowed down the auction finalists for Spanish theme park operator Parques Reunidos, according to Expansion. They are Apax Partners, Candover, Cinven and UK-based theme park operator Tussauds. The deal is expected to be worth more than Euro 800 million.

Apax Partners and Texas Pacific Group have abandoned plans to sell Greek mobile operator TIM Hellas, and will instead try selling Euro 1.4 billion of additional debt, according to Dow Jones. Leading bidder Eutelsat had withdrawn its interest earlier in the week.

Campbell Alliance Group Inc., a Raleigh, N.C.-based management consulting firm for the pharma and biotech markets, has raised an undisclosed amount of growth equity from Baird Capital Partners.

American Capital Strategies has sold Birmingham, Ala.-based specialty plumbing retailer Jones Stephens Corp. to Cortec Group, a New York-based private equity firm. No financial terms were disclosed, except that ACS re-invested in support of the acquisition. Jones Stephens was advised on the deal by Goldsmith Agio Helms. www.plumbest.com

Travelport Ltd., a New York-based owner of travel services company Galileo and Orbitz.com, has agreed to buy travel-booking service Worldspan for approximately $1.4 billion. Simultaneous to the execution of the merger agreement, Worldspan completed a recapitalization plan, through which Travelport loaned $125 million to Worldspan in exchange for a payment in kind (PIK) note which […]