Company: STAA
Filing Date: 2025-09-24
Form Type: DEFC14A
Source: 0001213900-25-090869
Chunk: 9

Company: STAAR SURGICAL CO
Filing Date: 2025-09-24
Form: DEFC14A
Chunk 9
---
 Unfortunately, the purchase price significantly undervalues STAAR, in our view. For example, the
Proposed Merger price of $28 per share values the Company at just 4.0x consensus 2026E revenue, a discount of 18% 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 22% 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.17Given 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. |

<div align='center'>5</div>

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