Broadwood Partners Issues Letter to STAAR Surgical’s Board Urging it to Allow Timely Shareholder Vote on Alcon Sale

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8:00 AM on Friday, October 17

The Associated Press

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 17, 2025--

Broadwood Partners, L.P. and its affiliates (collectively, “Broadwood”) today issued the following letter to the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of STAAR Surgical Company (“STAAR” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: STAA). Broadwood, which owns 27.5% of STAAR’s outstanding common shares, urges its fellow shareholders to vote on its GREEN Proxy Card “ AGAINST ” the proposed acquisition of STAAR by Alcon Inc. (“Alcon”) (NYSE: ALC) on the terms announced on August 5, 2025.

Shareholders can find additional information at www.LetSTAARShine.com.

The text of the letter to the Board is as follows:

October 17, 2025

STAAR Surgical Company
25510 Commercentre Dr.
Lake Forest, CA 92630

Dear Members of the Board:

With incomplete information and after a poorly designed process, you decided to sell STAAR to Alcon for a woefully inadequate price.

We have told you we disagree with that decision. So too have other large institutional investors and all three proxy advisors. And now, it is time for all shareholders to express their views on this proposed deal.

You have had months to justify your decision and solicit shareholder support for the transaction. You have filed proxy statements, mailed letters to shareholders, issued press releases, released an investor presentation, made hundreds of phone calls, and attended dozens of meetings with shareholders. There has been sufficient time and opportunity to tell your story, and you have done so in accordance with the schedule you selected.

Now, it is time to allow the shareholders to speak.

The vote on this ill-advised transaction is scheduled for October 23, 2025. We encourage you to allow the shareholders to decide whether they want to sell the Company on the terms you have negotiated.

We urge you to avoid the temptation to tilt the playing field by delaying the meeting, releasing misleading statements, or otherwise attempting to cajole STAAR shareholders to agree to this misbegotten deal.

Your role, after all, is not that of a partisan advocate. Instead, as our fiduciaries, your obligation is to objectively inform shareholders and allow us to decide what we want to do with our Company. You should hold the vote without further delay or drama.

Once shareholders vote next week, we expect you to accept the result. If shareholders reject the deal, we trust you will have the humility to recognize that the Board needs to work with shareholders to ensure a better path forward. Between now and then, you should take no further substantive or diversionary actions. As we monitor the votes, it is clear to us – and surely to you also – that shareholders lack confidence in this Board.

It is time for all shareholders to speak. And time for this Board to listen.

Sincerely,

Neal Bradsher
Founder and President
Broadwood Capital, Inc., General Partner of Broadwood Partners, L.P.

About Broadwood

Broadwood Partners, L.P. is managed by Broadwood Capital, Inc. Broadwood Capital is a private investment firm based in New York City. Neal Bradsher is the President of Broadwood Capital.

Certain Information Concerning the Participants

Broadwood Partners, L.P., Broadwood Capital, Inc., Neal C. Bradsher, Richard T. LeBuhn, Natalie R. Capasso, Raymond A. Myers and Jason J. Martin (collectively, the “Participants”) are participants in the solicitation of proxies from the shareholders of STAAR in connection with the special meeting of shareholders scheduled for October 23, 2025 (including any adjournments, postponements, reschedulings or continuations thereof, the “Special Meeting”). The Participants have filed a definitive proxy statement on Schedule 14A (the “Definitive Proxy Statement”) and accompanying GREEN Proxy Card to be used in connection with any such solicitation of proxies from the Company’s shareholders for the Special Meeting. SHAREHOLDERS OF STAAR ARE URGED TO READ THESE MATERIALS (INCLUDING ANY AMENDMENTS OR SUPPLEMENTS THERETO) AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS THAT THE PARTICIPANTS HAVE FILED OR WILL FILE WITH THE U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION (THE “SEC”) BECAUSE THEY CONTAIN OR WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION, INCLUDING ABOUT THE MATTERS TO BE VOTED ON AT THE SPECIAL MEETING AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION RELATING TO THE PARTICIPANTS AND THEIR DIRECT OR INDIRECT INTERESTS, BY SECURITY HOLDINGS OR OTHERWISE. The Definitive Proxy Statement and accompanying GREEN Proxy Card have been furnished to some or all of STAAR’s shareholders and will be, along with other relevant documents, available at no charge on the SEC’s website at https://www.sec.gov/.

Information about the Participants and a description of their direct or indirect interests, by security holdings or otherwise, is contained on an amendment to Schedule 13D filed by the Participants with the SEC on September 26, 2025 and is available here.

View source version on businesswire.com:https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251017671617/en/

CONTACT: Investor Contacts

John Ferguson / Joseph Mills

Saratoga Proxy Consulting LLC

[email protected]

(212) 257-1311

(888) 368-0379Media Contacts

Scott Deveau / Jeremy Jacobs

August Strategic Communications

[email protected]

(323) 892-5562

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