Big Holder Chasing STAAR Surgical (STAA)

STAAR Surgical Company (NASDAQ: STAA) has been on a roaring run of late.  In mid-May this stock was under $1.00.  After news of the company getting a nod for its Epiphany cataract lens insertion device, its stock has risen almost 100% and traded north of $2.00 before coming back to $1.94 today.  And then came a capital raise. What is interesting is that a large holder added a large amount to the ownership in that offering.

The company’s direct registered offering was just completed this week and was over 4.255 million shares at $1.88 per share.  Via an SEC filing, it turns out that Broadwood Partners LP (or tied to Neal Bradsher) purchased 1,159,362 of those shares.  This now gives the fund a total ownership of 6,028,638 shares.

STAAR is using the capital raised to fund a deposit with the court to secure a stay of enforcement of the judgment pending its appeal in the Parallax Medical Systems, Inc. litigation. The current temporary stay in the case expires on June 22, 2009.

We have Broadwood as being the largest holder by far, and this will now give it close to 20% of the total company if the last data on the total share count is accurate.

Jon C. Ogg
June 18, 2009