STAAR Surgical Completes $5M Debt Financing for Purchase of Japanese Joi...( MONROVIA Calif. Dec. 17 /- STAAR ...),Health

MONROVIA, Calif., Dec. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- STAAR Surgical Company (Nasdaq: STAA), a leading developer, manufacturer and marketer of minimally invasive ophthalmic products, today announced that it has borrowed $5.0 million from Broadwood Partners, L.P. under a senior promissory note to fund its purchase of the remaining interests of Canon Staar Co., Inc. This joint venture was formed by STAAR, Canon Inc. and Canon Marketing Japan, Inc. in 1988 to develop, manufacture and sell in Japan products using STAAR's technology. The pending purchase of the Canon companies' 50% interest in Canon Staar -- first announced on October 26, 2007 -- will result in Canon Staar becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of STAAR, to be renamed STAAR Japan Inc.

"This agreement permits us to achieve a key component of our ongoing international growth strategy -- closing the Canon Staar buy-out by the end of 2007 -- without tapping our working capital," said Barry G. Caldwell, President & CEO of STAAR Surgical. "The acquisition gives STAAR exclusive global control of all of our innovative proprietary products and technology, including the Visian ICL(TM), our Collamer(R) lens material and Collamer IOLs, and the preloaded IOL injector, and will allow us to market our cataract products directly into the large and growing Japanese market. Though the successful integration of the business presents a distinct set of challenges, we are excited by the long-term opportunities for growth in this region. This agreement allows STAAR to invest in further expansion of its international business without diverting working capital from our other growth strategies in 2008."

Broadwood provided the $5 million funding on December 14, 2007 pursu
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