French Pharma Firm To Reincorporate In Ireland

by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels

18 August 2016

French pharmaceutical company Flamel Technologies has confirmed that its shareholders have approved a plan to transfer the firm's place of incorporation from France to Ireland.

According to a company statement, Flamel will merge with its wholly owned subsidiary, Avadel Pharmaceuticals Limited, and re-register as an Irish public limited company to become Avadel Pharmaceuticals plc, effective January 1, 2017. The proposal was backed at a shareholder meeting in Lyon, France, on August 10.

Mike Anderson, Chief Executive Officer of Flamel, said that Ireland will be an "ideal location" for the merged company because of its status as an emerging hub for pharmaceutical companies. Ireland also "offers corporate governance policies more akin to those in the US," he explained.

However, given Ireland's low 12.5 percent corporate tax rate, the move is also expected to improve the company's overall tax rate.

According to Flamel's annual report for 2015, the company, which is headquartered in Lyon and has operations in St. Louis, Missouri, had an effective tax rate of 48.1 percent last year.

The company said that this unfavorable tax rate was partly the result of its significant operations in the US at a higher statutory corporate tax rate than the one in France, and losses at its Irish subsidiary at a lower statutory tax rate.

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