Company: STAA
Filing Date: 2025-09-15
Form Type: PREC14A
Source: 0001213900-25-087448
Chunk: 9

Company: STAAR SURGICAL CO
Filing Date: 2025-09-15
Form: PREC14A
Chunk 9
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 example, the Proposed Merger price
of $28 per share values the Company at just 4.0x consensus 2026E revenue, a discount of approximately 15% to comparable medical technology
companies.15 Using management’s forecasted
2026 net sales, rather than consensus estimates, that discount is even greater: the Proposed Merger price values the Company at approximately
3.8x 2026P revenue, a discount of more than 20% to comparable medical technology companies.16

Moreover, STAAR’s strategic
value to Alcon is significant, in our view. We believe adding STAAR’s EVO ICL to Alcon’s portfolio could allow Alcon to capture
a large portion of the patient population that cannot be safely and effectively treated with LASIK and would increase Alcon’s exposure
to Asia, which accounts for approximately half of the global refractive market.17
Given this strategic value—and the potential cost savings and revenue synergies—we believe that Alcon should be willing to
pay a substantially higher price for STAAR. And, certainly, Alcon’s acquisition of a controlling interest in the Company warrants,
in our view, a materially higher multiple than those afforded by public stockholders for small minority interests in STAAR’s publicly
traded peers.

| 14 | Vance Thompson Vision, “Measuring Outcomes of LASIK        
 and EVO-ICL in Matched Populations (EVOlve),” NCT06700460. |

| 16 | Id. |

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In our view, the evidence
for that proposition is clear. Less than a year ago, Alcon was in fact prepared to pay much more for STAAR. In October 2024, Alcon submitted
a proposal to acquire the Company for $55 per share in cash plus a contingent value right that was worth approximately $7 per share.18

We do not believe that STAAR’s
long-term prospects have changed materially since then, nor has the Company’s strategic value to Alcon. In our view, STAAR’s
inventory management challenges have been addressed, and the Company has improved its cost discipline, providing a pathway to a sharp
recovery in revenue and an acceleration of profitability in coming quarters. In fact, management’s projections indicate that STAAR
can achieve an Adjusted EBITDA margin of greater than 30% by the end of 2027,19
with margins continuing to expand thereafter.

In our