Company: STAA
Filing Date: 2025-10-09
Form Type: DFAN14A
Source: 0001213900-25-097833
Chunk: 15

Company: STAAR SURGICAL CO
Filing Date: 2025-10-09
Form: DFAN14A
Chunk 15
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 maker
specializing in implantable lenses (EVO ICLs) for medium-to-high nearsightedness correction, has seen its valuation drop amid slowing
growth and heavy competition in its key Chinese market.

Alcon, the largest global player in ophthalmic
surgery products, positioned the deal as a logical combination to accelerate adoption of STAAR’s ICL technology worldwide. STAAR’s
board unanimously endorsed the merger, presenting it as a way to secure near-term value for investors and stabilize the company’s
future amid what it described as “structural headwinds.”

But Broadwood Partners, a long-term investor holding
roughly 27.5% of STAAR’s shares and involved with the company for three decades, has since opposed the sale, arguing it was a fire
sale conducted at the wrong time, through a flawed process, and for the wrong price, all expedited by a conflicted board and management
team.

Glass Lewis: “Wrong time, wrong process, wrong price”

In its report this week, Glass Lewis largely sided
with Broadwood’s assessment. The proxy advisor said STAAR’s board executed the deal at a time when its financial performance
and forecasts pointed to an imminent rebound, thereby “preempting the market’s ability to reappraise the company’s standalone
value.”

It criticized the company’s decision to
sign and announce the merger one day before its second-quarter results, which exceeded expectations, arguing the timing “blunted
price discovery” and prevented both the board and shareholders from fully understanding STAAR’s recovery trajectory.

On process, Glass Lewis described a “fractured
and disconcertingly dormant methodology,” noting that CEO Stephen Farrell and Board Chair Dr. Elizabeth Yeu allegedly failed to
disclose inbound acquisition interest to other directors, a bombshell the firm said was admitted by STAAR representatives during its engagement.

<div align='center'>Exhibit 3-1</div>

Glass Lewis also raised alarms over a $23.7 million
golden parachute for Farrell, including a $6.8 million tax gross-up, despite his mere five months in the CEO role, calling it an “egregious
windfall for five months of pre-execution executive service.” The proxy firm concluded that the process was neither robust nor transparent,
with limited solicitation of alternative bidders, rushed diligence windows, and termination fees that disincentivized competing offers.

On valuation, the advisory firm’s analysis
found that the deal’s implied multiple, approximately 4