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STAAR Surgical finances $5 million for purchase of Japanese joint venture
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MONROVIA, Calif. — STAAR Surgical has borrowed $5 million from Broadwood Partners L.P. under a senior promissory note to finance its acquisition of the remaining interests of Canon Staar Co., STAAR Surgical announced in a press release.
Canon Staar Co. is a joint venture formed in 1988 by STAAR Canon Inc. and Canon Marketing Japan Inc. to use STAAR's technology to develop, manufacture and sell products in Japan. The purchase will result in Canon Staar becoming a fully owned subsidiary of STAAR Surgical, and it will be renamed STAAR Japan Inc., the release said.
"The acquisition gives STAAR exclusive global control of all of our innovative proprietary products and technology, including the Visian ICL, our Collamer 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," said Barry G. Caldwell, president and CEO of STAAR Surgical, in the release.
Broadwood Partners granted the $5 million funding pursuant to a senior promissory note issued by STAAR, with a $4 million cash portion of the consideration to be paid for the Canon interests in Canon Staar; the remainder will be used for transaction and integration costs. The balance of the purchase price will be paid through 1.7 million newly issued shares of convertible preferred stock, the release said.
The note has a term of 3 years and bears a 7% annual interest rate, which is not secured by collateral, may be pre-paid by the company without penalty and is not subject to previous financial contracts.