Category: Shire PLC

Report: AstraZeneca funnels billions into Dutch tax-avoidance scheme

AstraZeneca ($AZN) is not the first company to employ questionable tax-planning strategies, and it certainly won’t be the last. But the U.K.-based drugmaker is the latest poster child for tax avoidance. As The Guardian reports, AstraZeneca funneled billions of dollars into the Netherlands to get out of paying corporate taxes… – Continue reading

Inversion Deals Aren’t Dead; They Are Just On A Smaller Scale Now

Last September, the US Treasury Department announced new tax rules designed to crack down on the rising trend of “tax-inversion” deals in the pharmaceutical industry, as an increasing number of US firms had begun to pursue overseas acquisitions in attempts to relocate their legal addresses to non-US based headquarters to… – Continue reading

Shire share price movement suggests pharmco is better off on its own

Analysts upbeat on the company’s standalone prospects The recent share price performance of Shire Plc (LON:SHP), the London-listed drugmaker left at the altar by US pharma giant AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last year, suggests that the company will continue to thrive on its own, a view supported by recent analyst comments on… – Continue reading

PwC charged with “selling tax avoidance on an industrial scale”; indulging in “scams”

The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee on Monday held a hearing on the role of accountancy firms in tax avoidance and PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers), the Big 4 accounting firm, was represented by Kevin Nicholson, PwC head of tax in the UK and former HMRC (HM Revenue & Customs) tax inspector,… – Continue reading

Margaret Hodge to grill PwC and Shire over tax avoidance in Public Accounts Committee

The accountant PricewaterhouseCoopers and drugs giant Shire are due face a tense parliamentary showdown over tax avoidance with an angered Margaret Hodge today. PwC’s head of tax, Kevin Nicholson, was summoned to face Ms Hodge’s powerful Public Accounts Committee following reports last month that multinational corporations advised by PwC Luxembourg… – Continue reading

AstraZeneca boss claims ‘inversion deals aren’t dead’

Pascal Soriot has said that controversial inversion tax deals, branded ‘unpatriotic’ by President Obama, are still taking place despite attempts to curb the practice AstraZeneca’s chief has said inversion deals used by US companies to escape high taxes at home are not over despite a major clampdown on the practice…. – Continue reading

Top British companies using Luxembourg tax avoidance scheme ‘like a magical fairyland’ to save billions

Papers show firms used internal loans and interest payments to cut tax bills Leaked tax documents show arrangements were signed off by EU state They are legal, but are predicted to trigger calls to stop firms avoiding taxes British companies using scheme include Dyson and drugs group Shire Some of… – Continue reading

AbbVie Says It Reconsidering Deal With Shire

The drugmaker AbbVie said Tuesday it is having second thoughts about its deal to combine with British counterpart Shire after the U.S. government created new limitations on the tax benefits of incorporating overseas. North Chicago, Illinois-based AbbVie said it notified Shire that its board intends to reconsider the recommendation it… – Continue reading

New tax-dodge rules prompt AbbVie to seek more Shire financing: sources

(Bloomberg) — AbbVie Inc. is examining plans to raise additional financing to complete its takeover of Shire Plc, after U.S. officials imposed new obstacles to so-called tax inversion deals, people with knowledge of the matter said. AbbVie may seek to borrow as much as $7 billion more than it originally… – Continue reading