Sanders leads leftward Dem movement on Pfizer merger

The acquisition will help Pfizer to slash its tax bill in the US, but will certainly spark outrage on Capitol Hill and the White House over the maneuver to lower its corporate tax bill.

The proposed combination of Pfizer and Allergan will create a leading global pharmaceutical company with the strength to research, discover and deliver more medicines and therapies to more people around the world. Last week pharmaceutical powerhouse Pfizer announced a 0 billion merger with Allergan, reported Healthcare Finance News.

Although the rebranding will be called Pfizer Plc, legally, the company’s combination will be under Allergan Plc. “Congress also must pass real tax reform that demands that profitable corporations pay their fair share of taxes”.

On a conference call with analysts, Pfizer said the merger would give it enhanced access to its tens of billions of dollars parked overseas over time and allow for more share buybacks and dividend payments. Last year, the top five pharmaceutical advertisers in the U.S. spent $2.5 billion on measured media, up from about $2.2 billion in 2013, Kantar Media said.

Allergan’s parent firm will be the parent of the combined new business.

“The deal is also the biggest [tax] inversion deal”. That includes work on cures for Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s, cancer and other difficult-to-treat illnesses.

Investors don’t particularly like the deal as shares of both companies fell on Monday – apparently the cost savings aren’t as large as they hoped.

Pfizer’s chief financial officer, Frank D’Amelio, said he expected a combined tax rate of 17pc to 18pc by 2017, down from 25pc for Pfizer a year ago.

On NSE, shares jumped 8.29 percent to Rs 2,645. The Treasury Department has taken steps, including several announced last week, to try to hamper inversions.

When the deal is completed, Pfizer has said, it will move its corporate headquarters to Dublin to take over Allergan’s Irish headquarters, along with Pfizer’s existing Irish manufacturing and research facilities, which will bring the company under Ireland’s corporate tax infrastructure. It could end up being the world’s second-largest merger following British telecom company Vodafone’s purchase of Germany’s Mannesmann for $172 billion including debt, in 1999.