Status of pending tax 'inversions' after U.S. crackdown
Oct 3 (Reuters) - New rules for "inversion" deals, in which
U.S. companies reincorporate abroad to cut their tax bills, were
imposed by the U.S. government on Sept. 22, raising questions
about a few transactions that were pending at the time.
The following is the status of these deals as of Friday:
AbbVie Inc (Xetra: 4AB.DE - news) . The drugmaker agreed to buy
Dublin-based rival Shire Plc (Xetra: S7E.DE - news) and adopt a UK tax
residency. The deal was expected to be completed this year. The
Wall Street Journal reported Sept. 29 that AbbVie sought to
reassure Shire employees the deal will proceed.
Applied Materials Inc (NasdaqGS: AMAT - news) . The chip maker agreed to buy
smaller Japanese rival Tokyo Electron Ltd, with the
deal closing this year. The new entity, to be known as Eteris,
was expected to be incorporated in the Netherlands.
Auxilium Pharmaceuticals Inc (NasdaqGS: AUXL - news) . The drug maker agreed
to buy Canadian rival QLT Inc (NasdaqGS: QLTI - news) and redomicile to Canada.
Auxilium said on Sept. 22 a separate takeover bid from Endo
International was too low, but left the door open for
talks.
Burger King Worldwide Inc (NYSE: BKW - news) . The company has said it
is "moving forward as planned" to acquire Canadian coffee and
doughnut seller Tim Hortons Inc (NYSE: THI - news) and relocate the tax
home of the Whopper to Canada.
Chiquita Brands International Inc (NYSE: CQB - news) . The food group
agreed to combine with Ireland (Other OTC: IRLD - news) 's Fyffes Plc (Other OTC: FYFFF - news) . EU
regulators approved the tie-up on Friday. Juice maker Cutrale
and financial concern Safra Group have expressed interest in a
joint takeover of Chiquita. Fyffes agreed to raise Chiquita's
share of the merged company to block Cutrale-Safra.
Medtronic Inc (NYSE: MDT - news) . The medical technology firm is
working to close a deal with Ireland's Covidien Plc (NYSE: COV - news) by
the end of this year or early 2015. Medtronic said on Friday it
will proceed but will use $16 billion in debt rather than cash
held overseas as part of its financing.
Mylan Inc (NasdaqGS: MYL - news) . The generic drugmaker agreed to buy a
piece of Abbott Laboratories (Xetra: 850103 - news) ' non-U.S. business, with
the new company's tax domicile in the Netherlands. Mylan saw
unusual options activity on Thursday and the stock rallied after
rumors of a possible deal approach by Israeli drugmaker Teva
Pharmaceutical Industries.
Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd (NasdaqGS: SLXP - news) . The drug maker on Friday
called off its planned inversion to Ireland via an acquisition
of the Irish arm of Italy's Cosmo Pharmaceuticals SpA,
citing a "changed political environment."
C&J Energy Services Inc (NYSE: CJES - news) . The oilfield company
agreed to redomicile to Bermuda via a deal with Nabors
Industries Ltd. Closing was expected by the end of 2014.
(Reporting by Kevin Drawbaugh, Soyoung Kim and Jeffrey Dastin;
Editing by Lisa Shumaker)