JANA Partners Calls for Leadership Changes at Cooper Companies
JANA Partners has sent a letter to The Cooper Companies' board, urging immediate action due to ongoing underperformance. JANA criticizes the company's poor forecasting and capital allocation decisions, including issues with inventory management in its CooperVision segment and an unsuccessful strategic review of CooperSurgical. Additionally, it points out that removing key performance incentives for leaders has further eroded shareholder confidence. The firm is calling on the board to initiate an external search for a new CEO, appoint a new chairperson or lead independent director if necessary, revise compensation metrics, evaluate asset sales in fertility and medical devices, engage with potential buyers of CooperVision, and hire consultants to improve cost efficiency. JANA argues that these steps are essential to restore investor trust and halt value destruction. The letter highlights the company's significant underperformance compared to peers over multiple time horizons and notes a valuation discount for its assets.
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Topics: board_changes capital_allocation ceo_search underperformance