TransPerfect Wins Legal Victory Over Lionbridge and H.I.G in Federal Court as Trade Secret Case is Permitted to Advance Toward Trial
NEW YORK, April 24, 2020 – TransPerfect, the world’s largest provider of language and technology solutions for global business, today announced that it achieved a significant victory, as the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York determined that its case for various torts against Lionbridge and H.I.G. Middle Markets had sufficient merit to continue to discovery.
The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages for injuries TransPerfect alleges it sustained when H.I.G. and Lionbridge misappropriated trade secrets through fraud and used the information to compete unfairly. The complaint alleges that trade secrets were improperly acquired through false inflated bids made by H.I.G. during the course of the unprecedented forced auction process compelled by the Delaware Chancery Court and overseen by Custodian Robert Pincus. It further alleges that Lionbridge, the company’s largest competitor, which is owned by H.I.G., has been using those trade secrets to unfairly compete since early 2018. To this day, H.I.G. has failed to honor the nondisclosure agreements it executed to gain access to TransPerfect’s trade secrets and confidential information by returning the documents or certifying their destruction.
TransPerfect CEO and Founder Phil Shawe, who prevailed in the government-imposed auction and purchased his former partner’s shares to regain ownership and control of the company, commented that “TransPerfect thrives on fair competition, and we've consistently beaten Lionbridge in the marketplace. Now, we intend to beat them in court as well. It is unfortunate that Lionbridge, and their private equity financier H.I.G., engaged in activity that we view as cheating. We are pleased that the Court agreed our case should proceed, and we're looking forward to proving our claims at trial."
About TransPerfect
TransPerfect is the world’s largest provider of language and technology solutions for global business. From offices in over 100 cities on six continents, TransPerfect offers a full range of services in 170+ languages to clients worldwide. More than 5,000 global organizations employ TransPerfect’s GlobalLink® Product Suite to simplify management of multilingual content. With an unparalleled commitment to quality and client service, TransPerfect is fully ISO 9001 and ISO 17100 certified. TransPerfect has global headquarters in New York, with regional headquarters in London and Hong Kong. For more information, please visit our website at www.transperfect.com.