JANA Partners Calls For Cooper Companies Board To Commence Immediate External CEO Search, Appoint New Board Chair And Evaluate Asset Sales

JANA Partners ("JANA") today announced that it has sent a letter to the Board of Directors (the "Board") of The Cooper Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:COO) ("Cooper" or the "Company") highlighting the companies consistent underperformance and calling on it to take several actions to improve shareholder value including the immediate initiation of an external search for a CEO, the appointment of a new board chair and the evaluation of asset sales.

The Company requires urgent and significant action to rehabilitate its credibility with investors and to stem the tide of value destruction. For these reasons, we strongly urge the Board to pursue the following actions:

1. Immediately initiate an external search for a new CEO. The path to rehabilitation as a public equity starts with a new CEO. Investor trust has been broken, and we believe confidence in Cooper's CEO is beyond repair. With internal candidates burdened by Cooper's record, there is no choice but to look outside the Company. We believe the CEO role would draw interest from highly attractive candidates who could quickly rebuild credibility with investors and restore performance. If the Board has the misguided belief that a CEO change is unnecessary, we suggest it review the performance materials we are separately providing.
2. Appoint a new Board Chair (who could become lead independent director if the Chair role is assumed by a newly hired CEO) and add new directors who can help better oversee the Company.
3. Revise compensation metrics to improve accountability and alignment across the organization.
4. Evaluate the sale of the fertility and medical device assets, as the CooperSurgical strategic review evidenced buyer interest in those assets and validated that they would command a valuation premium.
5. Proactively engage with potential strategic buyers for CooperVision.
6. Engage a performance improvement consultant to help drive cost savings from CooperVision's manufacturing footprint and supply chain and commit to deliver such savings to shareholders.