Perrigo may halt Irish expansion as it fights €1.6bn tax demand

PERRIGO is considering shelving expansion plans in Ireland after tax authorities slapped the drugmaker with a €1.6bn ($1.8 bn) demand, a person familiar with the matter said.

While no final decision has been made, the issue has prompted the company to review plans to add jobs in Dublin, according to the person, who asked not to be named because the matter is private. Perrigo’s operational base is in Michigan, and about 180 people are employed in Ireland.

The company last year leased new space for its corporate HQ in Dublin’s city centre, which is in the final stages of construction, and was considering hiring more staff in the city.

Perrigo declined to comment on halting possible expansion plans in Dublin. Murray Kessler, who became CEO in October, said this week it was possible the company may move its HQ back to the US.

“It is hard to run a US customer service organization with probably the most complex product portfolio of any consumer goods company in America and do it from the other side of the ocean without the technology available to do it,” Mr Kessler said at a JPMorgan Chase & Co Healthcare conference on Tuesday.

After buying Irish biotechnology firm Elan six years ago, Perrigo moved its base to Dublin to take advantage of lower federal tax rates.

The company said last month that Irish authorities hit it with the assessment – the second-biggest in the country’s history – stemming from the 2013 sale to Biogen of intellectual property tied to Tysabri, a treatment for multiple sclerosis. It has appealed the assessment. (Bloomberg)