Pfizer, a Monsanto spin-off company, has announced that it will purchase Allergan, the makers of Botox and other drugs in a $160 billion dollar deal. Many argue that the move would create the largest drug company on the planet. It is likely a tactic to move Pfizer’s headquarters overseas to avoid paying US taxes.
The merger would shift Pfizer’s headquarters to Ireland, and would amount to the largest re-incorporation overseas of any America company in history. Shares of Allergan fell 3.4 percent and Pfizer closed down 2.6 percent as investors learned that the merger, under discussion since late October, would bring lower cost savings than they had hoped. [1]
Trump, Clinton, and Sanders, all presidential candidates, have shunned the move, calling it ‘disgusting’ and ‘unpatriotic.’ The loss of jobs in the US that the merger will cause is also expected to be substantial.
Related: How Americans Take 50% of All Pharmaceutical Drugs
Pfizer received $2.2 billion in tax refunds between 2010 and 2012 while earning over $43 billion worldwide. Approximately 4% of all Pfizer’s sales were for drugs in America. About $73 billion were in off-shore profits which the company paid NO taxes on. The company also received $3.4 billion in federal contracts despite their tax-dodging habits. [2]
[1] Reuters
[2] IPS-DC
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