Broadwood: Proxy advisory firms recommend Staar shareholders vote against sale

Broadwood Partners and its affiliates announced that Institutional Shareholder Services has recommended that the shareholders of STAAR Surgical Company (STAA) vote “AGAINST” the Company’s proposed acquisition by Alcon (ALC) on the GREEN Proxy Card. ISS is the third proxy advisory firm to recommend shareholders vote “AGAINST” the Proposed Merger, joining Glass, Lewis and Co., and Egan-Jones Ratings Company. With this recommendation, all three major proxy advisory firms, in addition to shareholders representing more than 34% of STAAR’s outstanding common shares, including Yunqi Capital, Defender Capital, CalSTRS, and former STAAR CEO David Bailey, have made public their opposition to the Proposed Merger. Neal Bradsher, President of Broadwood, said: “We are gratified that all three leading proxy advisory firms have recommended against this fundamentally flawed transaction. Their findings – along with the public opposition from several of our fellow shareholders – reinforce our view that STAAR conducted a defective sale process that was rife with conflicts and led to an agreement to sell the Company at a price that significantly undervalues STAAR and its prospects. Now that all three major proxy advisory firms and several of the Company’s largest shareholders have found serious faults in the judgment of this Board and the irretrievably flawed sale process, we caution the Board against making any further significant decisions, including about the Alcon deal and other transactions, without robust shareholder involvement and alignment. We continue to urge our fellow investors to vote ‘AGAINST’ this flawed deal.”