  Essentially all Ultra-Luminous IR Galaxies (ULIRGs) are in disturbed,
interacting or merging systems. It is known that interactions tend to induce
galactic starbursts. Thus, elliptical galaxies which are formed in mergers will
tend to have high metallicity, low dust and molecular gas content, and faint
structural distortions, as observed for the bone fide elliptical galaxy
population. The old stellar population in the merged galaxies will probe the
new gravitational potential, relaxing rapidly to give a de Vaucouleurs
surface-brightness profile if the remnant is elliptical-like. We examine the
old stellar population in 10 nearby (z < 0.15) ULIRGs, using deep near-IR
imaging photometry. These data reveal signs of elliptical-like structure in the
near-IR one-dimensional surface brightness profiles, supporting the hypothesis
that ultra-luminous mergers evolve into elliptical galaxies.
