While London-based AstraZeneca rejected Pfizer's $106 billion offer last week, the New York-based drugmaker has told U.K. officials it isn't ready to walk away from the deal. Read is set to speak about his proposal to buy AstraZeneca at two separate U.K. parliamentary committees next week.

Read may soon face government inquiries in the U.S. as well. Pfizer has said it plans to keep its operating headquarters in the U.S., even as it moves its legal address to the U.K. for the lower tax rate. In doing so, it would join at least 18 other companies that have said they are making or contemplating similar transactions since 2012, including Chiquita Brands International Inc.

Democrats in the U.S. Senate yesterday said they may push legislation that would block companies from shifting their legal addresses overseas to reduce their tax bills. Levin, a Democrat from Michigan, was joined by Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden in questioning the ability of companies to redomicile abroad in order to avoid U.S. taxes.

Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, told reporters in Washington he is considering quick action to prevent companies from “hollowing out” the U.S. tax base before lawmakers have the chance to consider broader tax changes.

'Quick Steps'

Wyden said in an opinion article published in the Wall Street Journal late yesterday that he wants to increase current requirements that U.S. companies reincorporating overseas have at least 20 percent of stock owned by their foreign partner.

“I am committed to raising this floor to at least 50 percent” starting immediately, Wyden wrote, adding that “corporations must understand that they won't profit from abandoning the U.S.”

Democratic efforts in the Senate will likely face opposition from Republicans in the House. Representative Dave Camp, a Michigan Republican who is chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said any attempt to address tax inversions like the one Pfizer plans should only be done in a broader revamp of the tax code.

Earlier this year, Camp released proposed legislation that would cut the U.S. corporate tax rate to 25 percent from 35 percent and trim taxes on foreign income.

“I don't think this is something you can kind of one-off,” Camp told reporters in the Capitol. “So I actually prefer an approach that really is actually going to create jobs and grow the economy as well.”

Pfizer spokesman Andrew Topen didn't respond to an e-mail seeking comment on Levin's proposed tax legislation. On April 28, Read said he didn't believe an acquisition allowing Pfizer to move its legal resident to the U.K. would “create a conflict with the interest of the U.S. government.”

While the tax issue spurred concerns in Washington, job cuts were on the mind of the Maryland and Delaware governors. O'Malley and Markell told Read they want Pfizer to make some commitments to their states. Read has reportedly told British Prime Minister David Cameron that he would retain U.K. jobs.

Pfizer has a track record of cutting jobs and shuttering research labs following acquisitions. Since 2003, it has announced plans to close at least seven research centers and shed about 70,000 employees.

Governors' Questions

AstraZeneca employs 5,700 people in Maryland and Delaware, Markell, the Delaware governor, said in a telephone interview. The company's North America headquarters is located in Wilmington, Delaware, there is a research center in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and a manufacturing facility in Newark, Delaware.

O'Malley and Markell decided to send their letter and make it public after reading about assurances Read reportedly provided to the British government, Markell said in a telephone interview yesterday.

They asked Pfizer to tell them details on how many jobs may be cut or relocated from their states as a result of a deal, what future investment they might get in the states and the drugmaker's possible plans for splitting a merged company into different businesses.

“We have 2,600 very good people in Delaware and 3,100 in Maryland,” Markell said by telephone. “My job is to do everything I can do to make sure they have continued career opportunities.”

The governors didn't discuss the letter or operations with officials at AstraZeneca, Markell said. They asked Pfizer to respond promptly to their request, and Markell said he received a polite phone call from a senior leader at the company who said he would keep the governor informed of Pfizer's progress with the acquisition.

“We believe a potential combination with AstraZeneca would build a stronger company by bringing together our assets, people and scientific expertise to create vibrant businesses with new potential growth and opportunities to meet patients' needs,” Mackay Jimeson, a company spokesman, wrote in an e-mail in response to questions. He said Pfizer officials have spoken to the governors and understand their concerns.

“Keeping us informed is very different from the kind of jobs they have committed to in the U.K.,” Markell said.

Meanwhile, in the U.K., concerns about the deal continued to surface. The Wellcome Trust, a U.K. endowment with 16.5 billion pounds that funds medical research, said in a May 2 letter to the U.K. government that it was worried about Pfizer reducing research in that country.

“If AstraZeneca does merge with Pfizer or with any other company, we think it is essential that the R&D and manufacturing capabilities it offers to the U.K. is maintained, and, critically, that its investment in its major R&D facility in Cambridge is not lost,” William Castell, chairman of the trust, and Jeremy Farrar, its president, wrote.

Bloomberg News

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