【英语财经】辉瑞放弃1600亿美元税收倒置交易 Collapse of Pfizer-Allergan deal sends shockwaves through US

The collapse of Pfizer’s $160bn merger with Allergan yesterday brought the total value of abandoned deals this year to its highest since the eve of the financial crisis and sent shockwaves through corporate America.

The decision to terminate the largest tax inversion deal in history marked a watershed victory for an interventionist Washington and left the US drugmaker scrambling to re-evaluate its strategy.

The abrupt end of Pfizer’s turbulent three-year hunt for a deal to escape the US tax authorities came as government intervention left a second big deal in doubt. The US Department of Justice sued to block Halliburton’s proposed $25bn takeover of rival oil-services group Baker Hughes. Halliburton is contesting the suit.

The implosion of the Pfizer-Allergan merger brought the value of deals withdrawn so far this year to $376bn — the highest since 2007 by deal value, when $405.9bn of transactions were scuppered, according to Dealogic.

Pfizer’s board voted to abandon the blockbuster deal after the US Treasury unveiled proposals that appeared designed to remove the lucrative benefits of its planned inversion, said one person familiar with the matter.

Pfizer was seeking to escape the high US corporate tax rate by shifting its address to low-tax Ireland, where Allergan is domiciled, but the Treasury’s plans aim to wipe out the advantages that “abusive” inverters seek.

They delivered a crushing blow to Ian Read, Pfizer’s chief executive. Several Pfizer investors questioned how he could have misjudged the mood in Washington, saying he had become increasingly confident of the deal’s prospects in recent weeks.

The drugmaker said it would now decide by the end of this year whether to split off its “established products” division, which sells generic medicines, and its “innovative” patent-protected medicines unit.

Pfizer stood to escape US tax on more than $128bn of profits stored abroad. The group, which had agreed to pay a break fee of up to $400m, will pay $150m to cover Allergan’s expenses.

A person close to Pfizer said its board believed the administration was ready to do anything to block the deal so felt it had no choice but to abandon the merger. Challenging the ruling in the courts would have injected a level of uncertainty that would have been hard for shareholders to tolerate, the person added, describing the Treasury’s move as “pretty extraordinary” as it appeared to target one specific deal.

Brent Saunders, Allergan chief executive, said that while the company was disappointed that the deal would not happen, Allergan was “poised to deliver strong, sustainable growth”.

辉瑞(Pfizer)与艾尔建(Allergan) 1600亿美元的合并交易昨日崩溃，使今年以来放弃交易的总价值达到金融危机前夕以来的最高水平，也使美国企业界感受到冲击波。

终结史上最大“税收倒置”交易的决定，标志着干预意识较强的华盛顿方面取得一个分水岭胜利，并使辉瑞这家美国制药商忙于重新评估自己的战略。

为了逃避美国税务当局，辉瑞忙活了三年时间寻求达成合并，这个一波三折的过程如今嘎然而止。与此同时，政府干预使另一笔大交易产生变数。美国司法部(DoJ)为了阻止哈里伯顿(Halliburton)以250亿美元收购竞争对手、石油服务集团贝克休斯(Baker Hughes)而提起诉讼。哈里伯顿正在抗辩。

Dealogic的数据显示，辉瑞-艾尔建合并交易的崩溃使今年迄今撤销的交易总价值达到3760亿美元，是自2007年以来最高的，那年有4059亿美元的交易泡汤。

据一名知情人士介绍，在美国财政部(Treasury)公布提案、似乎意在使辉瑞这笔计划中的税收倒置交易不再有利可图之后，辉瑞董事会投票放弃这笔重量级交易。

辉瑞此前寻求迁至低税收的爱尔兰（艾尔建的注册地），从而逃避美国较高的企业税，但美国财政部计划的目标是消除“滥用”倒置交易方的优势。

财政部的计划沉重打击了辉瑞首席执行官伊恩?里德(Ian Read)。辉瑞的一些投资者质问说，他怎么会如此错判华盛顿的情绪？里德曾称，他在最近几周对这笔交易的前景越来越有信心。

这家制药商表示，现在它将在今年底之前决定是否剥离主要销售仿制药的“成熟产品”部门，以及受到专利保护的“创新”药品部门。

辉瑞在海外囤积的逾1280亿美元利润本来有望逃避美国税收。此前同意支付高达4亿美元分手费的辉瑞，将支付1.5亿美元以弥补艾尔建的费用。

接近辉瑞的一名人士表示，其董事会认为，奥巴马政府将使出任何必要手段封杀这笔交易，所以觉得别无选择，只好放弃合并。这名人士称，在法庭挑战这项裁决将注入股东们难以容忍的不确定性，此人形容美国财政部的举动是“相当不寻常的”，因为它似乎针对一笔特定交易。

艾尔建首席执行官布伦特?桑德斯(Brent Saunders)表示，尽管该公司对这笔交易不会发生感到失望，但艾尔建“将会实现强劲、可持续的增长”。

译者/和风