logo image
  • News
    • People Moves
    • Deal Wins
    • Demand Drivers
    • M&A and Funding
    • Financial Results
    • Technology
    • Academia
    • Industry News
    • Features
    • Machine Translation
    • — Divider —
    • Slator Pro
    • — Divider —
    • Press Releases
    • Sponsored Content
  • Data & Research
    • Research Reports & Pro Guides
    • Language Industry Investor Map
    • Real-Time Charts of Listed LSPs
    • Language Service Provider Index
  • Podcasts & Videos
  • Events
    • Design Thinking – February 2021
    • — Divider —
    • SlatorCon Coverage
    • Other Events
  • Directory
  • RFP Center
  • Jobs
MENU
  • News
    • People Moves
    • Deal Wins
    • Demand Drivers
    • M&A and Funding
    • Financial Results
    • Technology
    • Academia
    • Industry News
    • Features
    • Machine Translation
    • — Divider —
    • Slator Pro
    • — Divider —
    • Press Releases
    • Sponsored Content
  • Data & Research
    • Research Reports & Pro Guides
    • Language Industry Investor Map
    • Real-Time Charts of Listed LSPs
    • Language Service Provider Index
  • Podcasts & Videos
  • Events
    • Design Thinking – February 2021
    • — Divider —
    • SlatorCon Coverage
    • Other Events
  • Directory
  • RFP Center
  • Jobs

Advertise on Slator! Download the 2021 Online Media Kit Now

  • Slator Market Intelligence
  • Slator Advertising Services
  • Slator Advisory
  • Login
Search
Generic filters
Exact matches only
Advertisement
TransPerfect Files Multimillion-dollar Lawsuit Against Lionbridge, H.I.G. Capital

2 years ago

April 12, 2019

TransPerfect Files Multimillion-dollar Lawsuit Against Lionbridge, H.I.G. Capital

Industry News ·

by Florian Faes

On April 12, 2019

2 years ago
Industry News ·

by Florian Faes

On April 12, 2019

TransPerfect Files Multimillion-dollar Lawsuit Against Lionbridge, H.I.G. Capital

Less than one year after securing sole ownership of the company he co-founded, TransPerfect CEO Phil Shawe has initiated a new courtroom battle. On April 11, 2019, the world’s largest language provider by revenue filed a complaint in the Southern District of New York against rival Lionbridge Technologies and its owner, private equity firm HIG.

The rivalry between New York-headquartered TransPerfect and Lionbridge, based near Boston, goes back more than two decades. Matters came to a head in late 2017 when Lionbridge attempted to acquire TransPerfect in an auction process initiated by a Delaware court to resolve a dispute between TransPerfect co-founders Phil Shaw and Liz Elting. Shawe eventually prevailed, with his bid valuing the company at USD 770m.

TransPerfect now alleges that Lionbridge / HIG “acquired trade secrets and confidential information under false pretenses” during the bidding process and is using it to “unfairly compete” with TransPerfect.

Advertisement

TransPerfect further alleged that Lionbridge / HIG took advantage of what the lawsuit calls the “apparent incompetence” of Credit Suisse, the investment bank running the auction, in setting security protocols for the data room. A data room is used to share information in an M&A transaction and allows the tight control of what documents the parties involved in a deal are able to view or download.

The details of the complaint are complex but, in a nutshell, TransPerfect alleged that Lionbridge / HIG viewed and downloaded documents “which it knew did not belong in the data room.”

According to the lawsuit, the proprietary information included “client lists, client agreements, client pricing information, commission schedules, sales and marketing strategies, confidential employee information and organization structure.”

TransPerfect said some of this information was then used to gain an advantage in client pitches, highlighting an instance where Lionbridge allegedly leveraged the information and “succeeded in winning a superior position to [TransPerfect] on [TransPerfect]’s second largest client,” a pharmaceutical company.

TransPerfect is seeking damages and compensation which may add to USD 300m.

A spokesperson for Lionbridge declined to comment. Slator contacted TransPerfect but has not received a response as of press time.

This is a developing story and we will continue to provide updates over the coming days.

Correction: An earlier version of this article estimated damages and compensation sought by TransPerfect to be USD 700m.

TAGS

Credit SuisseH.I.G. CapitalLionbridgeLiz EltingPhil ShaweTransPerfect
SHARE
Florian Faes

By Florian Faes

Co-Founder of Slator. Linguist, business developer, and mountain runner. Based in the beautiful lakeside city of Zurich, Switzerland.

Advertisement

SUBSCRIBE TO THE SLATOR WEEKLY

Language Industry Intelligence
In Your Inbox. Every Friday

SUBSCRIBE

SlatorSweepSlatorPro
ResearchRFP CENTER

PUBLISH

PRESS RELEASEDIRECTORY LISTING
JOB ADEVENT LISTING

Bespoke advisory including speaking, briefings and M&A

SLATOR ADVISORY
Advertisement

Featured Reports

See all
Slator 2020 Language Industry M&A and Funding Report

Slator 2020 Language Industry M&A and Funding Report

by Slator

Slator 2021 Data-for-AI Market Report

Slator 2021 Data-for-AI Market Report

by Slator

Slator 2020 Medtech Translation and Localization Report

Slator 2020 Medtech Translation and Localization Report

by Slator

Pro Guide: Sales and Marketing for Language Service Providers

Pro Guide: Sales and Marketing for Language Service Providers

by Slator

Press Releases

See all
iDISC Awarded ISO 27001 Information Security Management Certification

iDISC Awarded ISO 27001 Information Security Management Certification

by iDISC

XTRF Launches a Bi-Monthly Free Networking Event for Localization Professionals

XTRF Launches a Bi-Monthly Free Networking Event for Localization Professionals

by XTRF

150 Million Words Translated: the German EU Council Presidency Translator Sets New Records

150 Million Words Translated: the German EU Council Presidency Translator Sets New Records

by Tilde

Upcoming Events

See All
  1. Memsource MT Post-Editing Pricing Models Webinar

    Pricing Models for MT Post-Editing Workshop

    by Memsource

    · February 3

    Hear a panel of innovative localization professionals share different approaches for MT post-editing pricing.

    More info FREE

Featured Companies

See all
Text United

Text United

Memsource

Memsource

Wordbank

Wordbank

Protranslating

Protranslating

Seprotec

Seprotec

Versacom

Versacom

SDL

SDL

Smartling

Smartling

Lingotek

Lingotek

XTM International

XTM International

Smartcat

Smartcat

Translators without Borders

Translators without Borders

STAR Group

STAR Group

memoQ Translation Technologies

memoQ Translation Technologies

Advertisement

Popular articles

Why Netflix Shut Down Its Translation Portal Hermes

Why Netflix Shut Down Its Translation Portal Hermes

by Esther Bond

The Slator 2020 Language Service Provider Index

The Slator 2020 Language Service Provider Index

by Slator

Top Language Industry Quotes of 2020

Top Language Industry Quotes of 2020

by Monica Jamieson

SlatorPod: The Weekly Language Industry Podcast

connect with us

footer logo

Slator makes business sense of the language services and technology market.

Our Company

  • Support
  • About us
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy

Subscribe to the Slator Weekly

Language Industry Intelligence
In Your Inbox. Every Friday

© 2021 Slator. All rights reserved.

Sign up to the Slator Weekly

Join over 13,000 subscribers and get the latest language industry intelligence every Friday

Your information will never be shared with third parties. No Spam.