On Tuesday, the eye care company Alcon Plc (NYSE:ALC) agreed to acquire STAAR Surgical Company (NASDAQ:STAA), the manufacturer of the implantable collamer lens (ICL).
The acquisition includes the EVO family of lenses (EVO ICL) for vision correction for patients with moderate to high myopia (nearsightedness), with or without astigmatism.
Alcon will purchase all outstanding shares of STAAR common stock for $28 per share in cash, which represents approximately a 59% premium to STAAR’s 90-day Volume Weighted Average Price (VWAP) and a 51% premium to the closing price of STAAR common stock on August 4, 2025.
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The transaction represents a total equity value of approximately $1.5 billion. Alcon intends to finance the transaction by issuing short- and long-term credit facilities.
The transaction is anticipated to close in approximately six to 12 months and is expected to be accretive to earnings in year two.
“With the number of high myopes rising globally, the acquisition of STAAR enhances our ability to offer a leading surgical vision correction solution for those who are not ideal candidates for other refractive surgeries such as LASIK,” said David Endicott, CEO of Alcon.
An estimated 50% of the world will be myopic by 2050, and today, nearly 500 million people are considered high myopes.
The EVO family of ICLs are implanted between the iris (the colored part of the eye) and the natural crystalline lens during a procedure that does not remove corneal tissue.
This move follows Alcon’s recent announcement in July regarding its intention to acquire LumiThera, Inc. and its Photobiomodulation (PBM) Device for dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
Data from the LIGHTSITE I, II, and III clinical trials consistently showed that PBM treatments provide visual acuity improvement with no treatment-related serious adverse events reported.
PBM received FDA de novo market authorization in November 2024 and CE Mark in November 2018. PBM is available in Europe, Latin America, Singapore, the U.K., and the U.S.
The transaction does not include the acquisition of AdaptDx and Nova/Diopsys diagnostic devices, which will be separated and spun off to LumiThera’s shareholders before Alcon’s acquisition and will continue to be marketed and sold by the LumiThera spin-off.
Alcon and LumiThera anticipate the acquisition to be completed in the third quarter of 2025.
Price Action: ALC stock is trading lower by 1.17% to $86.79 premarket, and STAA stock is trading higher by 44.9% to $26.78 at last check Tuesday.
