Deals
After Pfizer-Allergan Deal, Large Inversions May Be Hard to Find
- Big targets like Glaxo, Sanofi haven't been eager for takeover
- Smaller transactions likely for companies like Lannett, Impax
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Pfizer Inc.’s $160 billion megadeal with Allergan Plc, which comes with the benefit of an overseas tax address, is likely to be envied by competitors who won’t be able to do much to mimic it.
The idea is certainly alluring. Many large drugmakers, including Johnson & Johnson and Merck & Co., are flush with cash and under pressure from investors to continue to grow quickly. Doing an “inversion” deal to relocate their legal domiciles abroad would give them a lower tax rate and let them use cash earned overseas in the U.S. without having to pay a 35 percent levy to repatriate the money.