Perrigo Company plc () is an American
Irish-registered manufacturer of
private label
A private label, also called a private brand or private-label brand, is a brand owned by a company, offered by that company alongside and competing with brands from other businesses. A private-label brand is almost always offered exclusively by th ...
over-the-counter pharmaceutical
Medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal product, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy ( pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the ...
s, and while 70% of Perrigo's net sales are from the U.S. healthcare system, Perrigo is legally headquartered in Ireland for tax purposes, which accounts for 0.60% of net sales.
In 2013, Perrigo completed the sixth-largest US
corporate tax inversion in history when it reregistered its tax status to Ireland to avoid U.S. corporate taxes.
Perrigo maintains its corporate headquarters in
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...
, within
Michigan State University
Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...
's Grand Rapids Innovation Park.
Perrigo engages in the acquisition (for repricing), manufacture, and sale of consumer healthcare products, generic prescription drugs, and
active pharmaceutical ingredient
An active ingredient is any ingredient that provides biological activity, biologically active or other direct effect in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease or to affect the structure or any function of the body of ...
s (APIs), primarily in the United States, from its base in Ireland. On 21 December 2018, Perrigo suffered its biggest one-day share price fall in its history after the Irish
Revenue Commissioners issued a tax claim against Perrigo that equated to half of its market value.
History
L. Perrigo Company was founded in 1887 in
Allegan, Michigan, by Luther and Charles Perrigo, who ran a general store.
In 1991 Perrigo had an
initial public offering
An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...
on
Nasdaq
The Nasdaq Stock Market (; National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the U.S. by volume, and ranked second on the list ...
.
In March 2005 the firm acquired Agis Industries Limited (traded as AGIS at the
Tel Aviv Stock Exchange), an Israel-based
generic pharmaceuticals company in an $850 million transaction. Agis was founded in 1983 by
Mori Arkin, who developed his father's small drug import business into a multinational generic pharmaceutical company. As a result of the acquisition, Arkin owned 9% of Perrigo, and was appointed as Vice Chairman of the company.
In July 2013, Perrigo announced that it would execute a
corporate tax inversion to Ireland in order to avoid U.S. corporate taxes, via an $8.6 billion acquisition of Irish-based
Elan Corporation. , Perrigo is the sixth-largest U.S. tax inversion in history.
Over 70% of Perrigo's sales, and an even greater percentage of Perrigo profits, are from the U.S. healthcare system.
In April 2015, Perrigo received an unsolicited buy-out offer from
Mylan of $29 billion, which was ultimately rejected by management and shareholders. In May 2016, Perrigo investors sued the company over statements made during the Mylan bid, which were said to have persuaded shareholders to vote against the deal. In the months prior to this suit, the company's chairman and CEO,
Joseph Papa, who has been credited with "fending off" Mylan's bid, left to take the CEO role at Valeant. Upon Papa's departure,
John Hendrickson, who was at the time the company's president, took on the additional roles of chairman and CEO. Hendrickson was succeeded by Uwe Roehrhoff in January, 2018. Murray S. Kessler succeeded Roehroff already in October of that same year. As of July 2023, Patrick Lockwood-Taylor is the current President and CEO.
On 20 December 2018, the ''
Financial Times
The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...
'' reported that the Irish
Revenue Commissioners levied a €1.64 billion (not including penalties and interest) Irish tax claim on Perrigo for unpaid capital gains tax (CGT) from the 2013 sale of
Tysabri to
Biogen
Biogen Inc. is an American multinational biotechnology company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States specializing in the discovery, development, and delivery of the treatment of neurological diseases to patients worldwide. Biogen ope ...
by Elan, which happened months before Perrigo's acquisition of Elan.
The claim is the second largest ever issued by the Revenue Commissioners in Irish history, after
Apple's €13 billion Irish tax fine.
On 21 December 2018, the ''
Irish Times'' reported that Revenue claimed Perrigo owed CGT at a rate of 33% as an "asset sale", however Perrigo claimed that the sale was part of Elan's normal "trading income", and was subject to the lower 12.5% Irish corporate tax rate, which Perrigo was able to reduce to 0% using Ireland's ''
multinational tax BEPS tools''.
In June 2022, Perrigo moved its corporate headquarters from Allegan to downtown Grand Rapids, about 40 miles north, within Michigan State University's Grand Rapids Innovation Park.
The company still maintains offices and production at the Allegan campus.
In 2023, its subsidiary, HRA Pharma, received approval from the
FDA to sell an
over the counter women’s contraception drug called Opill.
Acquisitions
On 9 January 2008, the firm acquired
Galpharm Healthcare, Ltd., a supplier of
over-the-counter store brand pharmaceuticals in the United Kingdom. On 16 September 2008, the firm acquired J.B. Laboratories. On 6 October 2008, it acquired Laboratorios Diba S.A., enabling the company to market its products in Mexico. On 13 November 2008, it acquired Unico Holdings, a manufacturer of store brand pediatric electrolytes, enemas and feminine hygiene products for retail consumers in the U.S.
On 1 March 2010, the firm acquired Orion Laboratories Pty, Ltd., a supplier of
over-the-counter (OTC) store brand pharmaceutical products in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
and
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
. On 23 March 2010, it acquired PBM Holdings, Inc., a producer of over-the-counter store brand
infant formula and baby foods in the United States, Canada, Mexico and China.
On 20 January 2011, the firm announced that it would acquire Paddock Laboratories Inc., with the deal expected to close in fiscal 2012.
In September 2012, Perrigo announced its intention to enter the animal wellness category by acquiring the assets of Sergeant's Pet Care Products, Inc., a privately held manufacturer of over-the-counter companion animal healthcare products.
On 11 February 2013, Perrigo announced the completion of the acquisition of Rosemont Pharmaceuticals Ltd., a specialty and generic prescription pharmaceutical company focused on the manufacturing and marketing of oral liquid formulations.
On 29 July 2013, the firm announced that it would acquire
Élan, a pharmaceutical firm based in Dublin. The Élan acquisition enabled Perrigo to reincorporate as an Irish company using Élan's headquarters (although the executive offices remained in Allegan), lowering its effective tax rate (called a
tax inversion
A tax inversion or corporate tax inversion is a form of tax avoidance where a corporation restructures so that the current parent is replaced by a foreign parent, and the original parent company becomes a subsidiary of the foreign parent, thus mov ...
).
In November 2014, Perrigo announced it had agreed to buy Belgian health-products provider
Omega Pharma approximately $4.5 billion (€3.6 billion). The transaction was completed in March 2015.
In August 2016, the company announced it would acquire US national distributor of over-the-counter medicines, Geiss, Destin & Dunn.
In May 2019, Perrigo announced it would acquire Ranir Global Holdings LLC, boosting its oral self-care offering, with the transaction valued at $750 million.
In February 2020, announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire the oral care assets of High Ridge Brands for $113 million.
In March 2021, Perrigo confirmed it would sell off its generics business to Altaris Capital Partners for $1.55 billion. In September, the business announced it would acquire HRA Pharma from investment firms Astorg and Goldman Sachs Asset Management for $2.1 billion, and completed the acquisition in April 2022.
Acquisition history
The following is an illustration of the company's major mergers and acquisitions and historical predecessors (this is not a comprehensive list):
*Perrigo
(Founded as L. Perrigo Company, 1887)
**Agis Industries Ltd
(Acq 2005)
**Galpharm International
(Acq 2008)
**J.B. Laboratories
(Acq 2008)
**Laboratorios Diba S.A.
(Acq 2008)
**Unico Holdings
(Acq 2008)
**Orion Laboratories Pty Ltd
(Acq 2010)
**PBM Holdings Inc
(Acq 2010)
**Paddock Laboratories Inc
(Acq 2011)
**Sergeant's Pet Care Products Inc
(Acq 2012)
**Rosemont Pharmaceuticals Ltd
(Acq 2013)
**
Élan (Acq 2013)
**
Omega Pharma (Acq 2015)
**Geiss, Destin & Dunn
(Acq 2016)
**Proteon Therapeutics
(Acq 2016)
**Ranir Global Holdings LLC
(Acq 2019)
**HRA Pharma (Héra SAS)
(Acq 2022)
Segments
The company operates in three segments; Consumer Self-care Americas, Rx Pharmaceuticals, and Consumer Self-Care International. The Consumer Self-care Americas segment produces over-the-counter pharmaceutical and nutritional products in the United States and the United Kingdom. This segment offers
analgesic
An analgesic drug, also called simply an analgesic, antalgic, pain reliever, or painkiller, is any member of the group of drugs used for pain management. Analgesics are conceptually distinct from anesthetics, which temporarily reduce, and in s ...
, cough/cold/allergy/sinus, gastrointestinal,
smoking cessation
Smoking cessation, usually called quitting smoking or stopping smoking, is the process of discontinuing tobacco smoking. Tobacco smoke contains nicotine, which is Addiction, addictive and can cause Substance dependence, dependence. As a resu ...
,
first aid
First aid is the first and immediate assistance given to any person with a medical emergency, with care provided to preserve life, prevent the condition from worsening, or to promote recovery until medical services arrive. First aid is gener ...
, antacids, hemorrhoidal remedies, motion sickness, sleep aid products, feminine hygiene products, vitamin, and
nutritional supplement products.
The Rx Pharmaceuticals segment produces generic prescription drugs in the United States. This segment provides creams, ointments, lotions, gels, and solutions, as well as nasal sprays, foams, and
transdermal
Transdermal is a route of administration wherein active ingredients are delivered across the skin for systemic distribution. Examples include transdermal patches used for medicine delivery.
The drug is administered in the form of a patch or ointm ...
devices. Believing that Rx business has the potential to realize greater value outside of Perrigo, board okays separation of prescription pharma business on 9 August 2018.
The Consumer Self-Care International (CSCI) segment develops, manufactures, markets, and distributes well-known European self-care brands in the natural health and vitamins, cough, cold and allergy, oral care, smoking cessation, personal care and derma-therapeutics and lifestyle categories.
See also
*
Corporate tax inversions
*
Ireland as a tax haven
References
External links
*
Perrigoat
LinkedIn
LinkedIn () is an American business and employment-oriented Social networking service, social network. It was launched on May 5, 2003 by Reid Hoffman and Eric Ly. Since December 2016, LinkedIn has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft. ...
{{authority control
Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange
Pharmaceutical companies of Ireland
Pharmaceutical companies of the United States
Pharmaceutical companies established in 1887
1887 establishments in Michigan
1991 initial public offerings
Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq
Companies listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange
Generic drug manufacturers
Manufacturing companies based in Dublin (city)
Tax inversions
Companies in the S&P 400
Companies in the TA-35 Index
Allegan, Michigan