Yunqi Capital Comments on Proxy Advisors’ Updated Recommendations, Urges Shareholders to Continue to Back the Company’s Standalone Trajectory

Yunqi Capital Limited (together with its affiliates and the funds it advises, “Yunqi Capital”), an investment management firm and 5.1% shareholder of STAAR Surgical Company (“STAAR” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: STAA), today released the following letter to STAAR shareholders in response to the updated reports of Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (“ISS”) and Glass, Lewis & Co., LLC (“Glass Lewis”) regarding the proposed acquisition of STAAR by Alcon Inc. (“Alcon”) (SIX/NYSE: ALC).

The text of the letter is as follows:

December 17, 2025

Dear Fellow STAAR Shareholders:

Following our review of the updated reports of the proxy advisory services ISS and Glass Lewis, Yunqi Capital remains opposed to STAAR’s proposed merger with Alcon, even at the revised offer price of $30.75.

We agree with the continued, strong recommendation of Glass Lewis against the merger, as well as with the extensive rationale for Glass Lewis’s opposition set forth in its most recently updated report. While we disagree with ISS’s recent decision to change its recommendation in favor of the proposed transaction, we underscore that ISS also observed that “it would not necessarily be unreasonable for a shareholder to remain opposed to this transaction.”¹

Recent events indicate shareholder value will be maximized if the Company terminates the current agreement and initiates a normal strategic alternatives review in the future.

When first announcing the conclusion of the go-shop period in a press release, STAAR did not inform shareholders about the appearance, during the go-shop period, of a well-known, credible potential buyer with the capital, industry expertise, buyout experience, and interest to acquire STAAR at a higher price. We are not taking issue with whether STAAR should have disclosed this in its first press release; we are simply highlighting that the third party emerged.

STAAR then updated shareholders about the appearance of this new third party after questions were raised by other stockholders. When finally acknowledging the appearance of this third party in a second, follow-up press release, STAAR claimed that the potential buyer did not contact STAAR until the beginning of the third week of the go-shop period. STAAR related this claim as if it should be taken to undercut the credibility and meaningfulness of the third party’s outreach.