Jana Partners Demands Cooper Companies Replace CEO

In a letter delivered on Thursday, activist hedge fund Jana Partners demanded Cooper Companies appoint a new chief executive and board chair and urged the company to explore strategic options for its two main units. The fund asked Cooper to engage potential buyers for CooperVision and to consider selling or separating fertility and other medical‑device operations within CooperSurgical.

Jana wrote that Cooper has experienced a prolonged period of underperformance and identified inventory management and capital allocation as areas needing new oversight. The fund gave the company several months to respond and warned it could pursue a proxy contest if its proposals are not addressed.

Jana built a stake in Cooper about a year ago and previously pushed the company to examine strategic alternatives, including a possible combination of CooperVision with a rival contact‑lens maker. The fund argued that separating or reshaping the two businesses might unlock greater value than keeping them under the current corporate structure.

Cooper operates two principal businesses. CooperVision manufactures soft contact lenses and other vision‑care products. CooperSurgical supplies products and services focused on women’s health and fertility. Cooper reported third‑quarter results this month and said it plans to expand its U.S. sales effort to cover an additional 5,000 eye‑care offices.

Albert White has been Cooper’s CEO since 2018. The company’s market value is about $10 billion after a roughly 16% decline in its shares over the past year and a fall of roughly 28% since Jana first disclosed its investment.

The deadline for director nominations is expected in early January, creating a timeline for negotiations or a potential shareholder vote. Cooper’s board and management have not publicly committed to Jana’s proposals and will need to evaluate any sale or separation against strategic plans, financial goals and regulatory or operational considerations.

Other activist investors have recently pressed medical‑device and health‑care companies to consider breakups, asset sales or leadership changes when they identify sustained underperformance.