Pfizer boss claims 'win-win' deal

[Disir]

The boss of US drug giant Pfizer has said the firm's proposed takeover of British-based AstraZeneca is a "win-win for society".
Pfizer chairman and chief executive Ian Read said the £60-billion-plus deal would "liberate the balance sheet and tax" of both companies after Prime Minister David Cameron insisted the American firm must provide more assurances about its commitment to Britain.

AstraZeneca has so far resisted approaches from its rival, but Pfizer executives have not given up hope of completing a deal - potentially the biggest foreign takeover of a British company.

Fears have been raised that resulting cost-cutting could cause the loss of thousands of highly-skilled jobs and undermine the UK's science base.

....Shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna said: " The assurances Pfizer has given ministers are not worth the paper they are written on, given that Pfizer has since refused to rule out breaking up the AstraZeneca business and selling off parts of it in the future if this takeover proceeds.

"The Government could act immediately to work to put in place a stronger public interest test encompassing cases with an impact on strategic elements of our science base and seek a proper, independent assessment of the potential takeover as Labour has called for. Instead, ministers have sat on their hands."

I do believe that Mr. Umunna said that it was bull-hockey.

 

[waltky]

Another company to go overseas due to high American business taxes...

Pfizer to buy Allergan in $160 billion deal
Mon Nov 23, 2015 - Pfizer Inc on Monday said it would buy Botox maker Allergan Plc in a record-breaking deal worth $160 billion to cut its U.S. tax bill by moving its headquarters to Ireland.

The acquisition will create the world's largest drugmaker, with combined annual revenue of about $64 billion. It is also the biggest-ever tax inversion deal, an increasingly popular and controversial maneuver aimed at helping U.S. companies lower their taxes by reincorporating overseas. U.S. President Barack Obama has called inversions unpatriotic and has tried to crack down on the practice. To avoid potential restrictions, the transaction was technically structured as smaller Dublin-based Allergan buying Pfizer, although the combined company will be known as Pfizer Plc and continue to be led by Chief Executive Officer Ian Read.

The merger will delay by two years the Lipitor and Viagra maker's decision on whether to split itself into two. That decision, which could sell off Pfizer's lower margin unit of products facing generic competition, was expected by late 2016. The deal enhances offerings from both Pfizer's faster-growing branded products business, with additions like Botox, and its established products unit. Still, investors had been hoping Pfizer would sell off the lower-margin business in 2017, a move now put off by the time required to integrate Allergan, Pfizer said.

Allergan CEO Brent Saunders will become president and chief operating officer of the combined company with oversight of all commercial businesses. Read, who has long sought to slash Pfizer's U.S. tax rate, said in a statement that the deal would help put the company on "on a more competitive footing." The company was expected to pay about 25 percent in corporate taxes this year, compared with about 15 percent for Allergan. Pfizer Chief Financial Officer Frank D'Amelio said he expected a combined tax rate of 17 percent to 18 percent by 2017.

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Democratic candidate Sanders condemns Pfizer-Allergan deal as 'disaster'
Mon Nov 23, 2015 - Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders condemned the Pfizer Inc acquisition of Allergan Plc on Monday and urged the Obama administration to block the deal.

Pfizer said it would buy Botox maker Allergan in a record-breaking deal worth $160 billion to cut its U.S. tax bill by moving its headquarters to Ireland.

"The Pfizer-Allergan merger would be a disaster for American consumers who already pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs," Sanders said in a statement.

Democratic candidate Sanders condemns Pfizer-Allergan deal as 'disaster'