What Happened?
Shares of medical lens company STAAR Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) jumped 9.8% in the afternoon session after its merger partner, Alcon, increased its cash buyout offer for the company. Under the amended agreement, Alcon raised its bid from $28.00 to $30.75 per share, boosting the medical technology firm's total value to $1.6 billion. This represented an additional $150 million in equity value for STAAR's stockholders. The new, higher offer came after a "go-shop" period, where STAAR Surgical was permitted to look for competing bids, did not result in any other offers. STAAR's board approved the increased price and recommended that its shareholders vote in favor of the deal.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
STAAR Surgical’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 30 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was about 23 hours ago when the stock dropped 7.1% on the news that the company announced the expiration of its 'go-shop' period without receiving any competing acquisition proposals, solidifying its pending merger agreement with Alcon Inc. The go-shop period, which ended on December 6, 2025, allowed STAAR to actively seek better deals from other parties. Despite soliciting proposals from 21 potential buyers, no competing offers were made. The outcome drew criticism from major shareholder Broadwood Partners, which reiterated its opposition to the sale. Broadwood stated that the deal's timing was poor and the price did not reflect the company's intrinsic value. Adding to the dissent, proxy advisory firm Egan-Jones also reaffirmed its recommendation for shareholders to vote against the acquisition, citing concerns that the deal's valuation was inadequate.
STAAR Surgical is up 5.5% since the beginning of the year, but at $25.43 per share, it is still trading 11% below its 52-week high of $28.57 from August 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of STAAR Surgical’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $327.60.
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