Company: STAA
Filing Date: 2025-12-16
Form Type: DFAN14A
Source: 0001213900-25-122330
Chunk: 3

Company: STAAR SURGICAL CO
Filing Date: 2025-12-16
Form: DFAN14A
Chunk 3
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 it difficult for shareholders                           
 to trust the statements and actions of the board and management team.” |

| ● | “STAA did not clearly disclose in initial                                                                                                 
 filings that approval of the amended merger agreements was not unanimous. This critical information was instead disclosed in supplemental 
 filings.”                                                                                                                                 |

| ● | “[T]here are significant concerns with                                   
 the sale process, and these were not fully cured by the 30-day go-shop.” |

| ● | “[S]hareholders continue to have a reason                                                                              
 to question whether the board's messaging about downside risk from an operational perspective is completely credible.” |

| ● | “[I]t is now evident that shareholders         
 cannot rely on the incumbent leadership team.” |

ISS concluded: “[I]t would not necessarily
be unreasonable for a shareholder to remain opposed to this transaction….”

ISS’s skepticism about the transaction is
consistent with the views of the two other prominent shareholder advisory firms, Glass, Lewis & Co., LLC (“Glass Lewis”)
and Egan-Jones Ratings Company (“Egan-Jones”), both of whom are recommending that shareholders vote “AGAINST”
the proposed transaction.

In its updated report on December 5, 2025, Egan
Jones said: “[W]e believe the credibility and integrity of the transaction have been compromised by the previously non-competitive
process. Furthermore, because the same board and executive management team oversaw both the original merger and the subsequent amendment
and go-shop process, our concerns regarding objectivity and fairness remain the same.”

Glass Lewis concluded in its December 11, 2025,
report that “we do not believe there exists persuasive cause for investors to endorse the revised Alcon arrangement.”

| 1 | Permission to use quotes         
 was neither sought nor obtained. |

Neal C. Bradsher, Founder and President of Broadwood,
reacted to the recent proxy advisor reports:

“The proposed sale to Alcon has
been met with overwhelming opposition from STAAR shareholders, proxy advisory firms, and even from within STAAR’s own boardroom.
We reject ISS’s inexplicable decision to offer ‘cautionary support’ for the proposed transaction in the face of what
ISS itself described as uncured process concerns, skepticism that Alcon’s revised offer represents full value for STAAR, and an
inability of shareholders to rely on STAAR’s Board and management team. ISS’s condemnation of the integrity of the Board and
management team reinforces our strong belief that this transaction should be voted down and followed by significant