Perspectives On Tax Inversions And The Pfizer Deal’s Undoing
Columnists and opinion writers offer their thoughts on this headline-grabbing development.
The New York Times:
A Corporate Tax Dodge Gets Harder
Pfizer never tried to hide the fact that its proposed $152 billion merger with Allergan, based in Ireland, would cut its tax bill in the United States. But even as it rushed to complete the biggest tax-avoidance deal in the history of corporate America, it continued to promote the strategic and economic benefits of the merger. (4/6)
Bloomberg View:
The U.S. Isn't Better Off For Killing The Pfizer Deal
The U.S. government's latest moves to prevent the $160 billion Pfizer-Allergan tax inversion deal, and future ones like it, can make the U.S. market unattractive to legitimate foreign investors. The administration uses the U.S. market's enormous size to browbeat companies into submission. Size alone, however, can only motivate investors to a degree. (Leonid Bershidsky, 4/6)
The Wall Street Journal:
Treasury Is Wrong About Our Merger And Growth
In the pharmaceutical industry we develop medicines and therapies to address world-wide health challenges. The work is complex and deeply gratifying. At Pfizer we employ more than 30,000 highly skilled people in the United States alone and invest almost $8 billion annually in R&D, much of it in the U.S. (Ian Read, 4/6)
Bloomberg:
Big Pharma Murdered Tax Inversions
Congrats big pharma! You ruined a favored and often lucrative tax tactic for the entire corporate world. With hubris and attempted mega-deals, the industry called forth the wrath of the U.S. Treasury Department against inversions and similar deals designed to net U.S. firms lower tax rates. (Max Nisen, 4/6)
The New York Times:
Finger-Pointing Abounds In Failed Pfizer Deal
Pfizer’s abandoned deal leaves all sides tainted. The United States Treasury looks bad for changing the rules on Monday to kill the $152 billion merger with Allergan. Lawmakers’ inaction encouraged such tax-driven transactions. But Pfizer and its chief executive, Ian C. Read, bear the most responsibility for wasting time and resources pushing an overpriced, risky deal. (Robert Cyran, 4/6)
