On Tuesday's Market Foolery, host Chris Hill and Bill Barker, a Motley Fool Funds analyst, jump into the murky waters of AbbVie's (ABBV +0.77%) latest bid for Shire (NASDAQ: SHPG).
American pharmaceutical firm AbbVie has increased its bid for Shire, a drugmaker based in Ireland, to $51 billion. The sheer number of offerings reminds Chris and Bill of Pfizer's bid to AstraZeneca earlier in the year. Chris explains that both companies had shares falling Tuesday, possibly on the large bid or the thought that it won't be accepted. Bill isn't surprised by the deal because Ireland can be very economical through its lower taxes. Investors can see a similar move with Medtronic and Covidien.
Bill expects Shire will be purchased by some company eventually even if its not AbbVie. The Irish taxes make it a choice offering. Chris asks why the pharmaceutical industry is seeing this type of movement. Looking at the size of these Irish pharmaceutical companies, moving operations to Ireland becomes a reasonable choice because of Irish tax laws and Obamacare legislation.
