U.S. retailer Walgreen Co on Tuesday appeared to back away from a plan to reincorporate abroad to reduce its U.S. taxes, while politicians again urged the White House to curb deals that shift tax domiciles. Walgreen, which operates the largest U.S. chain of pharmacies, will purchase the 55 percent it does not already own of European drugstore chain Alliance Boots, but it will not move its tax domicile overseas, Sky News reported.A Walgreen spokeswoman said she had not seen the Sky News report and was unable to comment.Citing sources, the UK-based news outlet said that Chicago area-based Walgreen would proceed, as expected, with its acquisition of the remaining shares of Switzerland's Alliance Boots in a deal valued at about $8.4 billion (5 billion pounds).Walgreen had been under pressure from some of its investors to do an "inversion" deal with Alliance Boots, under which the U.S. company would relocate its tax domicile to Switzerland or Britain to cut its tax bill.
Walgreen Co. (Walgreens), together with its subsidiaries, operates as a retail drugstore chain in the United States. Shares of WAG fell by 4.15% or $-2.99/share to $69.12. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $46.75 and as high as $76.39. On average, 5559980 shares of WAG exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 31318056.
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