[LOGO]                                    [THE COOPER COMPANIES LOGO]

                                          21062 Bake Parkway, Suite 200
NEWS RELEASE                              Lake Forest, CA 92630
                                          888-822-2660
        CONTACT:                          Fax: (949) 597-0662

        Norris Battin

        The Cooper Companies, Inc.
        ir@coopercompanies.com

        FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


           COOPER COMPANIES' UNIT COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF CL-TINTERS
     Patented Tinting Technology Allows Competitive Entry into Fast Growing
                          Cosmetic Contact Lens Market

LAKE FOREST, Calif., May 29, 2001 -- The Cooper Companies, Inc. (NYSE:COO)
announced today that its CooperVision (CVI) unit has completed the acquisition
of privately held CL-Tinters Oy (CLT) a leading manufacturer of cosmetic contact
lenses. CLT applies the color tints to CVI's aspheric cosmetic contact lenses.
Cooper paid approximately $14 million in cash at closing and will pay up to $7
million more if CLT meets certain milestones.

A. Thomas Bender, Cooper's Chief Executive Officer, said, "The CLT acquisition
gives us control of critical lens tinting technology that will allow us to
compete more effectively in the rapidly growing market for cosmetic contact
lenses. We believe that the lenses manufactured using this patented technology
to tint our aspheric lenses will be significant new market entries. In clinical
trials against the leading competitor, they have demonstrated superior comfort
and equivalent cosmetic acceptability. This purchase is another important step
toward our goal of being the world leader in specialty contact lenses."

CVI expects that the acquisition will increase manufacturing capacity and
decrease unit cost for CVI's recently introduced line of cosmetic lenses, which
are sold as Frequency Colors in Canada and Europe and as Expressions in the
United States.

Based in Helsinki, Finland, CLT had annual revenue of about $4 million before
the acquisition, marketing its products through distributors in Europe and the
Far East.









The cosmetic lens market - opaque and color enhancing lenses that change the
appearance of the eye's natural color - is the second largest specialty lens
market segment behind toric lenses. Worldwide revenue of about $260 million is
growing about eight percent per year. The United States represents about 70
percent of the world market. Disposable cosmetic lenses, the segment in which
Frequency Colors and Expressions compete, is about $150 million worldwide
growing at about 15 percent annually. Conventional lenses, whose revenue is
declining, comprise the remainder.

"An important target market for cosmetic lenses," said Bender, "is the large
pool of current spherical contact lens wearers who could purchase several pairs
of colored lenses to enhance the appearance of their eyes and to complement
their wardrobes. Spherical lens wearers who trade up to specialty products,
either cosmetic or toric lenses, receive added visual benefits and contact lens
practitioners can build their practices by recommending them." Within the next
12 months, CVI plans to launch a tinted color product that enhances the natural
color of the eye, without totally changing its appearance.

In addition to tinting opaque lenses, CLT also offers Crazy'r' Lens, a fashion
lens that provides various images or geometric patterns around the pupil, and a
prosthetic lens that masks corneal scaring or other disfigurements of the eye.
CVI currently markets these lenses under its own label. CVI also markets Natural
Touch, a conventional opaque lens that is replaced annually.

Forward-Looking Statements

Some of the information included in this news release contains "forward-looking
statements" as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Forward-looking statements include all statements regarding anticipated growth
in our revenue, anticipated market conditions and results of operations. To
identify forward-looking statements look for words like "believes," "expects,"
"may," "will," "should," "seeks," "intends," "plans," "estimates" or
"anticipates" and similar words or phrases. Discussions of strategy, plans or
intentions often contain forward-looking statements. These, and all
forward-looking statements, necessarily depend on assumptions, data or methods
that may be incorrect or imprecise.

Events, among others, that could cause actual results and future actions to
differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements include
major changes in business conditions, a major disruption or other production
issues at our manufacturing facilities, new competitors or technologies, the
impact of an undetected virus on our computer systems, acquisition integration
delays or costs, foreign currency exchange exposure, investments in research and
development and other start-up projects, dilution to earnings per share from
acquisitions or issuing stock, regulatory issues, significant environmental
cleanup costs above those already accrued, litigation costs including any
related settlements, costs of business divestitures, the requirement to provide
for a significant liability or to write off a significant asset, changes in
accounting principles or estimates, and other factors described in our
Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including the "Business" section in
our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended October 31, 2000. We











caution investors not to rely on forward-looking statements. They reflect our
analysis only on their stated date or the date of this news release. We disclaim
any intent to update these forward-looking statements.

The Cooper Companies, Inc. and its subsidiaries develop, manufacture and market
specialty healthcare products. CooperVision, Inc., headquartered in Lake Forest,
Calif., with manufacturing facilities in Huntington Beach, Calif., Rochester,
N.Y., Toronto, Hamble, England and Helsinki, Finland markets a broad range of
contact lenses for the vision care market. Its Web site is www.coopervision.com.
CooperSurgical, Inc., headquartered in Shelton, Conn., markets diagnostic
products, surgical instruments and accessories for the gynecological market. Its
Web site is www.coopersurgical.com. The Company's corporate offices are located
in Lake Forest and Pleasanton, Calif. A toll free interactive telephone system
at 1-800-334-1986 provides stock quotes, recent press releases and financial
data. The Cooper Companies Web address is www.coopercos.com.

Trademarks of The Cooper Companies, Inc., and its affiliates are italicized.
Crazy'r'Lens is a trademark of CL-Tinters.


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