Company: STAA
Filing Date: 2025-12-16
Form Type: DFAN14A
Source: 0001213900-25-122330
Chunk: 8

Company: STAAR SURGICAL CO
Filing Date: 2025-12-16
Form: DFAN14A
Chunk 8
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 chose to name this third party in the same follow-up press release, in an unconventional manner. That appears to have chased away
the third party, at least for the time being.

While the Company states that it engaged with
21 third parties, we believe there are far more than 21 potentially interested strategic and financial parties globally. We suspect that
this third party and others like it will continue to be in the market in the future.

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

The Prospects for the Business Are Strong, in Spite of Leadership Changes that May Come

We were encouraged to see that ISS expressed well-founded
skepticism about STAAR management’s pessimistic outlook for the future of the business. ISS stated that “shareholders continue
to have a reason to question whether the board’s messaging about downside risk from an operational perspective is completely credible.”

We disagree with ISS on its primary basis for
its change in recommendation. In reaching its conclusion, ISS focused on a concern that, if shareholders reject the transaction, “shareholders
would need to be concerned about next steps for STAA,” since “shareholders cannot rely on the incumbent leadership team.”

Our view is that while leadership changes may
follow a failed merger vote, the fundamentals of STAAR’s business remain firmly intact. In the near term, STAAR shareholders require
continuity of operations and stewardship of the business while the Board recalibrates leadership at the senior level. The core drivers
of STAAR’s value—its proprietary ICL technology, established global distribution infrastructure, and deep penetration in key
growth markets—are unchanged. Moreover, the relevant economic data and market indicators underpinning the Company’s valuation
point to solid and accelerating demand for ICL procedures, reinforcing our view that STAAR’s standalone prospects remain strong
and continue to improve.

We also view positively STAAR management’s
recent comments regarding, in their words, “downward” sales trends in China during the fourth quarter of 2025. Sales trends
in the last quarter were already materially better than our expectations. Looking ahead, STAAR China is scheduled to launch the differentiated
EVO ICL V5 product line in January 2026. In advance of this launch, we would expect distributors to reduce existing inventories in order
to mitigate obsolescence risk and free up capital to support purchases of the new product, which would be priced at an approximately 30-70%
premium to the existing line of ICLs