Pfizer, the large American pharmaceutical company, formally announced on Monday that it will buy Allergan, an Irish company with about one-tenth Pfizer's revenue. Except legally speaking, Allergan is going to be buying Pfizer. And legally speaking, the new company's headquarters is going to be in Dublin even though its "operational" headquarters will be in New York — right where Pfizer is located today.
The
reason? Tax avoidance. Having Pfizer become an Irish company will reduce its
tax bill a decent amount in practice and a huge amount in accounting terms,
making it easier for money to flow out of the corporate treasury and into the
pockets of shareholders.
Hillary
Clinton denounced the deal as a rip-off for US taxpayers, and in a statement
Bernie Sanders went even further and said, "The Obama administration has
the authority to stop this merger, and it should exercise this authority."
Hillary
Clinton blasts Pfizer-Allergan Merger: These kind of deals "will leave
U.S. taxpayers holding the bag."