• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

After forcing workers back to the office, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are now letting their staff work remotely—but only for the World Cup

2

The Pentagon said Iran War costs $29 billion, but the real cost is closer to $200 billion—and counting

3

Markets tumble worldwide as Fed resets expectations: $400 billion wiped off SpaceX stock

1

After forcing workers back to the office, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are now letting their staff work remotely—but only for the World Cup

2

The Pentagon said Iran War costs $29 billion, but the real cost is closer to $200 billion—and counting

3

Markets tumble worldwide as Fed resets expectations: $400 billion wiped off SpaceX stock
Finance

Why New Tax Inversion Rules Won’t Stop Pfizer-Allergan Deal

By
Stephen Gandel
Stephen Gandel
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Stephen Gandel
Stephen Gandel
Down Arrow Button Icon
November 20, 2015, 3:42 PM ET
Inside The Pfizer Inc. Kendall Square Research Facility Ahead Of Earnings Figures
A worker puts tubes into dry ice at the Pfizer Inc. research and development facility in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., on Monday, Oct. 26, 2015. Pfizer is expected to report quarterly earnings on October 27. Photographer: Scott Eisen/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesPhotograph by Scott Eisen/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Pfizer’s Allergan inversion deal may be too big for even the U.S. government to stop.

On Thursday, the Treasury Department issued new rules to limit tax inversion deals. An inversion takes place when a U.S. company buys a smaller, foreign rival and reincorporates overseas in order to avoid U.S. taxes. The deals, as you can imagine, are controversial. (We at Fortune have called them positively un-American.) The new rules include provisions against “asset stuffing” and “cherry picking.” The first is when a U.S. company shoves some assets into a foreign entity it is buying to make it big enough to qualify for an inversion. The second is when a U.S. company uses a third entity to combine with a foreign company in order to relocate the newly formed company to a country with an even lower tax rate.

Neither of these rules will stop the Pfizer (PFE) deal. The same goes for the rules that Treasury put in place in September 2014. The reason: The drug maker has agreed to pay up for rival Allergan, making the deal a so-called super inversion. The Treasury’s inversion rules relate to deals in which U.S. companies end up owning between 60%-to-80% of the newly formed company, and the foreign entity owns somewhere between 40% and 20%. The idea was to stop U.S. companies from cheaply picking up small companies just for tax purposes.

But the Pfizer-Allergan split goes beyond 60-40. The terms aren’t official. but Pfizer is reportedly going to pay $150 billion for Allergan (AGN). (Around $190 billion if you include Allergan’s debt, which Pfizer will have to take on.) That’s 22% higher than where the company is trading right now. And Allergan’s shares have already risen nearly 25% on the potential Pfizer deal, to around $310.

Pfizer has a market cap of around $200 billion. So the combined company will be worth roughly $350 billion. If Pfizer pays $150 billion for Allergan, Allergan will end up owning about 43% of the combined company, and Pfizer will own 57%.

“Every tax saving stunt that’s known to man is going to be available to them as long as they stay below 60%,” says Robert Willens, an independent tax expert.

Willens says the deal will likely decrease Pfizer’s tax rate from around 25% to 7.5%. And Willens says it will probably go lower than that. “I think they may end up having one of the lowest effective tax rates of any company on the planet,” says Willens.

The question is whether all of Pfizer’s tax moves will be worth it. The deal values Allergan at 25 times earnings. Yet the maker of botox’s bottom line growth is expected to slow to about 16% within two years. And Pfizer will be taking on Allergan’s $40 billion in debt to do the deal. Yes, Pfizer will save $2 billion a year in taxes, but it is giving up 43% of its company to do it. That means 43% of Pfizer’s earnings, or nearly $6.3 billion, will now be going to Allergan’s former shareholders. Pfizer will be getting back 57% of Allergan’s earnings, but that only equals $3.8 billion. The gap is $2.5 billion, or $500 million more than what Pfizer is getting in tax savings.

The deal may still pay off in the long run. Pfizer can do additional cost cutting. And Allergan’s earnings are growing. But all mergers have risk. And lots of people are saying that the deal is all about the tax savings. And if it is all about the tax savings, then this deal appears to come up short.

Indeed, Pfizer’s shareholders seem wary of the deal. The drug maker’s stock is down 10% since news of the deal came out. The government can’t stop companies from paying up for tax inversions, even if it would be better for shareholders if it could.

About the Author
By Stephen Gandel
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Finance

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Finance

Trump cancels signing a housing bill and blindsides his own party in a social media post
PoliticsDonald Trump
Trump cancels signing a housing bill and blindsides his own party in a social media post
By The Associated Press, Mary Clare Jalonick, Kevin Freking, Josh Boak and Lisa MascaroJune 24, 2026
1 hour ago
t
PoliticsDonald Trump
Trumps holds landmark affordable housing bill hostage over his pet issue: the ‘national emergency’ of voter ID
By Mary Clare Jalonick and The Associated PressJune 24, 2026
1 hour ago
s
BankingScott Bessent
Scott Bessent calls Mamdani ‘leader of the Democratic Party,’ touts weekly Warsh breakfasts and a new push to put every American in the stock market
By Nick LichtenbergJune 24, 2026
2 hours ago
a
RetailAmazon
Amazon’s record Prime Day masks a darker truth: Americans are spending more and getting less
By Nick LichtenbergJune 24, 2026
2 hours ago
rd
AsiaChina
Ray Dalio just finished a 10-day trip to China. He says global leaders know America ‘doesn’t have what it takes to fight to maintain its empire’
By Nick LichtenbergJune 24, 2026
3 hours ago
Top CD rates from major banks June 24, 2026: Chase CDs, Bank of America CDs, Citibank CDs, and more
Personal FinanceCertificates of Deposit (CDs)
Top CD rates from major banks on June 24, 2026: Chase CDs, Bank of America CDs, Citibank CDs, and more
By Joseph HostetlerJune 24, 2026
4 hours ago

Most Popular

After forcing workers back to the office, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are now letting their staff work remotely—but only for the World Cup
Success
After forcing workers back to the office, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are now letting their staff work remotely—but only for the World Cup
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJune 23, 2026
1 day ago
The Pentagon said Iran War costs $29 billion, but the real cost is closer to $200 billion—and counting
Economy
The Pentagon said Iran War costs $29 billion, but the real cost is closer to $200 billion—and counting
By Jacqueline MunisJune 24, 2026
10 hours ago
Markets tumble worldwide as Fed resets expectations: $400 billion wiped off SpaceX stock
Banking
Markets tumble worldwide as Fed resets expectations: $400 billion wiped off SpaceX stock
By Jim EdwardsJune 23, 2026
1 day ago
Current price of oil as of June 23, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of June 23, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 23, 2026
1 day ago
Current price of gold as of June 23, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of gold as of June 23, 2026
By Danny BakstJune 23, 2026
1 day ago
Texas and Charlotte used to build huge McMansions—now they're copying the California design tricks they once mocked
Real Estate
Texas and Charlotte used to build huge McMansions—now they're copying the California design tricks they once mocked
By Sydney LakeJune 22, 2026
2 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.