Company: STAA
Filing Date: 2025-10-07
Form Type: DFAN14A
Source: 0001213900-25-097083
Chunk: 8

Company: STAAR SURGICAL CO
Filing Date: 2025-10-07
Form: DFAN14A
Chunk 8
---
 of STAAR by a third party, including Alcon, we believe the current terms of the proposed merger with Alcon fail to recognize the value of STAAR’s business, in China and globally. We find it important to point out that Mr. Farrell is backing a sale that hands him tens of millions of dollars in personal payout, while working to push shareholders to accept a deal that undervalues the Company.

We also find STAAR’s press release of October 6 objectionable insofar as STAAR has cherry picked a small number of tepid statements from selected analyst reports that, at best, indicate only moderate support the proposed merger. A number of the quotations provided by STAAR in its press release point to recent challenges the Company faced in the Chinese market, but shareholders know about these challenges and the Company has been up front about them. Those challenges do not by themselves justify a sale at the current price. Even the analyst quotes selected by STAAR point to its greater intrinsic value than the proposed merger terms recognize, with one analyst quote acknowledging that “STAA expects to have inventory levels align by 3Q25 with in-market procedure volume, as global macroeconomic conditions improve,” and another acknowledging, “we do admit the timing of the deal is not ideal for STAA.”

As Broadwood Partners highlighted in its press release on October 6, Alcon’s offer is highly opportunistic, especially considering its previous bid of $58. STAAR now notes that Alcon withdrew its previous offer after conducting diligence, but ignores the immense chasm between the previous offer of $58 and the current offer of $28. While markets fluctuate, accepting the current offer, when there are clear signs STAAR is overcoming its temporary challenges, would mean selling the Company at its lowest point and depriving shareholders of the value we believe the Company can deliver as it re-accelerates growth.

Instead, we urge the Company to start a proper strategic alternatives process at the appropriate time and from a position of strength, as we believe the cost-cutting and restructuring measures outlined above can lead to a value-maximizing proposal well above the current $28 per share offer.

We urge our fellow shareholders to vote against the proposed transaction.

Sincerely,

Christopher Min Fang Wang
Chief Investment Officer
Yunqi Capital Limited

| 5 |

About Yunqi Capital

Yunqi Capital is a Hong Kong headquartered investment manager with over US$250 million in assets under management. The firm deploys a fundamental long-short equity strategy, with a concentrated portfolio,