Jana Partners has acquired a position in Cooper Companies (COO) and plans to push for strategic alternatives, including a potential deal to combine its contact-lens unit with Bausch + Lomb (BLCO), Lauren Thomas of Wall Street Journal reports, citing people familiar with the matter. Jana also plans to push Cooper to make other changes, including improving the company’s capital allocation and returns, sources told the Journal. The activist believes Cooper’s two business units are unrelated and lack synergies, the people added. Bausch + Lomb CEO Brent Saunders told the Journal in an interview that he would be interested in such a combination.
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