The frantic pace of inversion deals that once saved U.S. corporations millions of dollars in taxes while heaping riches on the law firms that helped structure them are slowing to a crawl.
Since the U.S. Department of the Treasury issued a notice on Sept. 22 that tightened regulations for inversions, at least three large pending deals have fallen apart: Abbvie’s $54 billion merger with U.K.-based Shire on Oct. 20; Auxilium Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s $345 million merger with Vancouver-based biotechnology company QLT Inc. on Oct. 8.; and Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd.’s $2.7 billion acquisition of Italian drugmaker for gastrointestinal diseases Cosmo Pharmaceuticals S.p.A on Oct. 3.
