Accellent, a contract design and manufacturing firm for the medical device industry, said Monday it was being bought by private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts for $1.27 billion.

The medical device deal is not a first for KKR, which helped raise a $250-million investment in medical device manufacturer Jazz Pharmaceuticals in 2004.

The private equity firm has become increasingly involved in technology investments during the last year, taking a stake in the $11.3-billion buyout of SunGard (see SunGard Sold) and the $2.66-billion acquisition of Agilent’s semiconductor business (see Agilent Sells Chip Unit).

KKR is famous for its restructuring of former tobacco and food conglomerate RJR-Nabisco in the late 1980s.

Accellent is currently owned by a group of private investors including KRG Capital Partners and DLJ Merchant Banking Partners. The company changed its name to Accellent in May 2005. It had previously been called Medical Device Manufacturing.

During the second quarter, Accellent earned $5.9 million on $114.7 million in sales, compared with a $4.4-million loss on $60.3 million in sales in the year-ago period.

KKR does not anticipate a significant restructuring of the medical device manufacturer. The buyout firm will be working with existing management.

Accellent gets 60 percent of its revenue from its top 10 customers. The firm expects to lose some $38 million in sales next year as Boston Scientific moves its manufacturing operations internally.

Credit Suisse First Boston and Hogan & Hartson advised Accellent. J.P. Morgan and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett advised KKR.