Seventeen years after Kohlberg Kravis Roberts made its storied ?19,4 billion bid for RJR Nabisco, private equity firms are again big news. A consortium including KKR snapped up Toys "R" Us, and private equity firm Ripplewood was one of the leading contenders in the high-profile battle for Maytag, eventually won by Whirlpool. In Europe, Cinven and BC Partners paid $4.3 billion for Amadeus Global Travel in Spain; and EQT teamed up with Goldman Sachs Capital Partners to acquire ISS, the Denmark-based cleaning services firm, for $2.95 billion.