Company: STAA
Filing Date: 2025-12-16
Form Type: DEFA14A
Source: 0001193125-25-319626
Chunk: 1

Company: STAAR SURGICAL CO
Filing Date: 2025-12-16
Form: DEFA14A
Chunk 1
---
 stockholders. In the ISS report issued today, ISS recommended a vote “FOR” the Alcon merger and noted that “uncertainties about valuation are now outweighed by the combination of more acute downside risks and improved terms” 1with respect to the Alcon agreement. STAAR clearly faces challenges as a standalone company. It is not hard to see from STAAR’s financial results that the Company is facing headwinds. STAAR’s net sales have been on a downward trajectory since 2023 as a result of the overweight exposure to China, increasing competition, a limited product offering and a historical inability to penetrate markets beyond high myopia patients. STAAR previously indicated that it believed China procedure volumes were positive year over year in 1Q25, softened during 2Q25, and did not improve in 3Q25. Like others in the industry, STAAR has not seen a rebound in 4Q25. These trends reinforce the significant, sustained challenges STAAR faces as a standalone company and the benefit to stockholders provided by the certain, premium value that would be realized in the Alcon merger. After having completed a robust go-shopprocess, it is clear that there is not any buyer for STAAR who is willing to present a bid with a price at or above Alcon’s offered $30.75 per share.

| 1 | Permission to use quotations neither sought nor obtained |

STAAR urges stockholders to follow the ISS recommendation and vote “FOR” the Alcon transaction. Time is short. STAAR will hold a virtual Special Meeting of Stockholders on December 19, 2025, at 8:30 a.m. (Pacific Time). Stockholders of record as of the close of business on October 24, 2025, are entitled to vote at the meeting. The Alcon merger agreement, as revised on December 9, 2025, provides STAAR stockholders with $30.75 per share in cash, representing a 74% premium to STAAR’s 90-dayVolume Weighted Average Price and a 66% premium to the closing price of STAAR common stock on August 4, 2025. The Company encourages stockholders to protect the value of their investment and vote “FOR” the Alcon merger on the WHITE proxy card TODAY. Stockholders with questions about voting their shares should contact STAAR’s proxy solicitor, Innisfree M&A Incorporated:

| • |     | For stockholders: +1 877-750-8233