Company: STAA
Filing Date: 2025-09-24
Form Type: DFAN14A
Source: 0001213900-25-091197
Chunk: 5

Company: STAAR SURGICAL CO
Filing Date: 2025-09-24
Form: DFAN14A
Chunk 5
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 interests. The Chair
of the Board was a consultant to Alcon when the dialogue with Alcon began, while two other directors at that time had significant business
interests with Alcon. As best we can tell from the proxy disclosure, it was not until our firm raised the conflict-of-interest issue with
STAAR’s CEO that the Chair revealed the extent of her business ties with Alcon to her fellow directors, and that was just two days
before the Merger Agreement was signed.

Moreover, in the aggregate, STAAR’s executives
are poised to earn approximately $55 million in immediate compensation if the deal is closed. The Company’s CEO alone stands to
receive approximately $24 million in compensation, due to the Board’s decisions that accelerate the vesting of his stock grants
and award payouts well above target performance levels. While directionally aligned with the Company’s recent and above-consensus
projections, the awarding of compensation at these levels certainly belies the strategic alarmism in the Company’s proxy solicitation
materials. For the CEO, the Proposed Merger provides a significant and riskless windfall for just five months of work.

A Suboptimal Transaction

It is clear to us that the Proposed Merger is
the result of poor timing, a flawed process, and conflicts of interest. We are not surprised, then, that another of the Company’s
largest stockholders, Yunqi Capital Ltd., owner of 5.1% of the outstanding shares, is also publicly opposing the transaction. The unjustifiably
low purchase price reflects, in our view, temporary investor pessimism resulting from the Company’s past challenges. But we do not
believe these challenges are insurmountable, nor do we believe they are likely to persist. We are convinced that STAAR can, and should,
deliver value to stockholders far in excess of the $28 per share that Alcon is offering.

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Now is the time to keep our eyes focused on the
future and reject a short-sighted deal. Accordingly, we urge stockholders to vote “AGAINST” the Proposed Merger today
using the instructions on the enclosed GREEN Proxy Card. Should stockholders reject the Proposed Merger, as we believe they should,
we are prepared to support the Company with the recruiting and nomination of new directors and executives, if necessary, to ensure that
the Company fulfills its promise to shine for all patients, employees, business partners and stockholders. An objective