International law firm Pinsent Masons has advised on the $52.6 million sale of conference call and collaboration provider Via-Vox to PGi.  Corporate partner Andrew Hornigold and corporate associate Ian Montgomery led a team advising the conference call company trading under the name Powwownow. The acquisition will see PGi expand its customer base into the SME sector in the UK and across Europe.

Commenting on the deal, Hornigold said: "This deal not only demonstrates Pinsent Masons' corporate expertise but highlights our knowledge and understanding of the technology sector."

ARDIAN, formerly AXA Private Equity, has concluded a share purchase agreement on the sale of Competence Call Center Holding GmbH (CCC) to Silverfleet Capital.

Stephenson Harwood has advised CSE-Global Limited on the sale of one of its wholly owned subsidiaries, Servelec Group plc for £122 million. Contemporaneously with the sale, which completed on 2 December 2013, Servelec was admitted to the Official List and to trading on the premium segment of the main market of the London Stock Exchange. Servelec's market capitalisation on admission was £122 million. Stephenson Harwood advised CSE-Global, Walker Morris advised Servelec and Investec Bank plc ("Investec") acted as sponsor, financial adviser, sole bookrunner and broker to CSE-Global.

Slaughter and May advised Palamon Capital Partners on the sale of its majority stake in Cambridge Education Group to Bridgepoint. Cambridge Education Group is a leading player in the international schools market, providing pre-university education to students from over 95 countries. The sale will generate a return on investment for Palamon of 14.6 times, with a capital gain of £141 million and an IRR of 58%.

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Wragge & Co's Corporate team has advised a syndicate of venture capital investors, led by NVM Private Equity, on their exit from Alaric Systems in a deal worth £52 million.

Alaric provides payment processing and fraud prevention software solutions to financial institutions, processors and retailers worldwide. It manages 1.6 billion transactions a month across 30 countries and employs 117 people.

Macfarlanes has advised the senior management team of Cambridge Education Group in relation to their sale alongside Palamon of their respective interests in Cambridge Education Group to Bridgepoint and their new shareholder arrangements with Bridgepoint.

Cambridge Education Group provides pre-university education to students from more than 95 countries.  Palamon bought the business in 2007 and during its ownership the company's revenues have grown five-fold.

Dechert is serving as legal advisor to The Brickman Group in its announced sale to KKR. The two announced today that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which KKR will acquire Brickman for $1.6 billion from Leonard Green & Partners, L.P. and other shareholders.

Founded in 1939, Brickman is the leading provider of landscape maintenance and snow removal services in the U.S. With nearly 10,000 employees nationwide, Brickman serves a diversified base of over 10,000 clients, including some of the most well-respected companies and institutions in the U.S.

International law firm Pinsent Masons has advised Direct Line on the sale of its closed life insurance business to Chesnara plc for a cash consideration of £39.3m.

The deal allows Direct Line to release a further £23m of capital, which was previously required to back the policies, resulting in total sale proceeds of £62.2m. Direct Line plans to return the sale proceeds to shareholders through a special dividend.

The private equity investor Triton has sold the traditional window makers WERU GmbH to the private equity firm HIG Capital. Allen & Overy has advised the management of WERU. The transaction is still subject to approval by the relevant authorities. The purchase price, has not been disclosed.
 
WERU is the market leader in plastic windows for housing. With a total of 923 employees, the company manufactures more than 500,000 windows at its two production locations in Germany. Since 1999, Bauer the traditional window manufacturer has been part of the Triton portfolio.

Taylor Wessing has advised technology company Shutl, an online marketplace of same day courier companies, on its acquisition by internet giant eBay Inc, in a deal which highlights how attractive early stage technology companies can be for major international brands seeking business solutions.