Cooper Companies (NASDAQ:COO) saw its shares rise over 4% in premarket trading Monday after the Wall Street Journal reported that activist investor Jana Partners has built a stake in the company and intends to push for major strategic changes — including the potential combination of Cooper’s contact lens business with Bausch + Lomb.
Jana reportedly believes Cooper’s two business divisions lack meaningful synergies and wants the company to pursue moves aimed at unlocking shareholder value through better capital allocation and returns. While the size of Jana’s stake was not disclosed, the activist is expected to advocate strongly for a restructuring.
The idea of merging the contact lens segment has already found a receptive audience: Brent Saunders, CEO of Bausch + Lomb, publicly expressed interest in such a combination during an interview.
Cooper currently operates through two main units: CooperVision, a leading producer of soft contact lenses, and CooperSurgical, which provides women’s health and fertility products and services.
According to Jana, the company’s current strategy has created limited value for shareholders and left Cooper with a more complex structure and inefficient capital allocation, fueling its call for change.
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