{"id":71928,"date":"2026-09-17T19:08:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T23:08:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/activist-pressure-mounts-on-cooper-cos-as-canada-moves-to-privatize-major-airports\/71928\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T19:08:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T23:08:16","slug":"activist-pressure-mounts-on-cooper-cos-as-canada-moves-to-privatize-major-airports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/activist-pressure-mounts-on-cooper-cos-as-canada-moves-to-privatize-major-airports\/71928\/","title":{"rendered":"Activist Pressure Mounts on Cooper Cos. as Canada Moves to Privatize Major Airports"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Activist investor Jana Partners is pushing Cooper Companies (<a href=\"\/stock\/COO\">COO<\/a>) to replace its CEO and consider a sale of its core contact lens business to Bausch + Lomb (<a href=\"\/stock\/BLCO\">BLCO<\/a>).<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The Canadian government, led by Prime Minister Mark Carney, has mandated JPMorgan (<a href=\"\/stock\/JPM\">JPM<\/a>) and CIBC (<a href=\"\/stock\/CM\">CM<\/a>) to advise on the sale of long-term concessions for the country&#39;s four largest airports.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>New Zealand\u2019s trade deficit narrowed to NZ$1.35 billion in August, supported by a 0.3% month-on-month rise in food prices and a significant reduction in imports.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The White House has withdrawn the nomination of Jeffrey Anderson, a former Delta pilot, for a key post at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) following union opposition.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Geopolitical tensions spiked as Saudi Arabia&#39;s Jeddah Airport reportedly halted flights following projectile fire, while the U.S. approved restricted visas for the Iranian delegation to attend the UN General Assembly.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Activist Pressure at Cooper Companies<\/h2>\n<p>Activist hedge fund <strong>Jana Partners<\/strong> has reportedly built a significant stake in medical device manufacturer <strong>Cooper Companies (<a href=\"\/stock\/COO\">COO<\/a>)<\/strong>. The firm is urging the company to replace its Chief Executive Officer and explore strategic alternatives, including the potential divestiture of its core contact lens business.<\/p>\n<p>Jana is specifically advocating for a combination of Cooper\u2019s vision unit with rival <strong>Bausch + Lomb (<a href=\"\/stock\/BLCO%5D\">BLCO<\/a><\/strong>, arguing that the company\u2019s current structure\u2014which includes a surgical division\u2014undervalues the assets. This move follows similar pressure from <strong>Browning West<\/strong>, which has called for the company to become a &quot;pure-play&quot; vision care entity by divesting its surgical unit instead.<\/p>\n<h2>Canada Initiates Airport Privatization<\/h2>\n<p>The Canadian government has officially moved toward privatizing the operations of its most critical aviation hubs. <strong>JPMorgan Chase &amp; Co. (<a href=\"\/stock\/JPM\">JPM<\/a>)<\/strong> and <strong>CIBC (<a href=\"\/stock\/CM\">CM<\/a>)<\/strong> have been selected to advise Prime Minister Mark Carney\u2019s administration on the sale of long-term concessions for the airports in <strong>Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, and Calgary<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Under the proposed model, the Canadian government will retain ownership of the underlying land and assets while leasing operating rights to private investors. This strategy aims to &quot;recycle&quot; assets to fund new infrastructure projects, mirroring the &quot;leased-airport&quot; approach successfully utilized in Australia.<\/p>\n<h2>New Zealand Economic Data<\/h2>\n<p>New Zealand\u2019s trade balance for August showed a deficit of <strong>NZ$1.35 billion<\/strong>, a notable improvement from the prior month&#39;s <strong>NZ$1.95 billion<\/strong> deficit. The narrowing was driven by a sharp decline in imports, which fell to <strong>NZ$8.00 billion<\/strong> from a previous <strong>NZ$9.34 billion<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Concurrently, the <strong>Food Price Index (FPI)<\/strong> rose <strong>0.3% month-on-month<\/strong>, accelerating from the <strong>0.1%<\/strong> increase recorded in July. On an annual basis, the 12-month year-to-date trade deficit stands at <strong>NZ$5.44 billion<\/strong>, as the nation continues to navigate volatile global commodity prices and shifting demand from major trading partners like China.<\/p>\n<h2>Aviation and Geopolitical Developments<\/h2>\n<p>The White House has formally withdrawn the nomination of <strong>Jeffrey Anderson<\/strong> for the position of U.S. Representative on the Council of the <strong>International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)<\/strong>. The move follows intense criticism from the <strong>Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA)<\/strong>, which argued the former Delta pilot lacked the necessary diplomatic experience and was focused too narrowly on raising the pilot retirement age.<\/p>\n<p>In the Middle East, reports from <strong>Tasnim News<\/strong> indicated that flights at <strong>Jeddah Airport<\/strong> were temporarily suspended after warning sirens sounded and a projectile was reportedly fired at the city. Amidst these regional tensions, the <strong>U.S. State Department<\/strong> confirmed it has approved visas for Iranian President <strong>Masoud Pezeshkian<\/strong> and Foreign Minister <strong>Abbas Araghchi<\/strong> to attend the UN General Assembly in New York next week, though the delegation will face strict travel and luxury purchase restrictions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways Activist investor Jana Partners is pushing Cooper Companies (COO) to replace its CEO and consider a sale of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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