Billionaire Leon Cooperman Increases Stake in “Undervalued” Lionbridge

Leon Cooperman, CEO of investment group Omega Advisors, has taken a 7.1% stake in Lionbridge Technologies, one of the world’s largest language service providers. Cooperman is now the third largest stakeholder of the Nasdaq-listed company, next to hedge fund Glenhill Advisors with 11.4% and asset management giant Fidelity with 10.5%. Cooperman now also owns more shares of the company than Lionbridge CEO Rory Cowan with his 6.3% stake.

Cooperman purchased $23 million dollars’ worth of shares, granting voting rights via a sole proxy agreement to Waltham-based investment management firm Glen Capital Partners. Bizjournals notes that Cooperman’s stake could mean future significant changes for Lionbridge, noting an October 22, 2015 Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing stating “Glen Capital and Cooperman desire to work together to provide more effective support to Lionbridge Technologies Inc…. to seek to create shareholder value.”

According to an October 27, 2015 SEC filing, Cooperman “acquired the Common Stock… for investment purposes because he believed that the Common Stock was undervalued and represented an attractive investment opportunity.”

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Cooperman was formerly general partner of Goldman Sachs Group and chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs Asset Management before retiring in 1991 to found Omega Advisors. According to their website, Glen Capital Partners identifies “undervalued small-capitalization companies” in verticals such as technology, healthcare, financial services, industrial, and business services. The site also notes that the firm is “particularly interested in companies undergoing significant operational, capital structure, or strategic change.”