Deerfield, Illinois’s Walgreen Co. is upending the inversion trend—the company is buying Alliance Boots, which is based in the United Kingdom, but it is not going to reincorporate abroad. Instead, Modern Healthcare reports the new holding company will keep its headquarters in the US.
Walgreen said in April that it was considering making the UK its official home base. Such a move would have put it in good company—AbbVie is going to be rechristened an expat operation when it finalizes its Shire merger.
Although Walgreen CEO Greg Wasson explained in a statement that the firm “concluded it was not in the best long-term interest of our shareholders to attempt to redomicile outside the US.” Forbes points out that this is not because Walgreen did not want the tax benefit that comes with moving abroad. Forbes said it’s just math: Walgreen shareholders won’t own enough of the new company to qualify for a lower tax rate, even with a new tax address.
Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew has urged Congress to enact a retroactive law that would end name-only relocations.
