From Bring Me the News:
A syndicated news story looks at a 2012 merger that Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike McFadden’s investment firm was involved with, suggesting it could become a “flashpoint” in his race against DFL incumbent Sen. Al Franken. The Associated Press story said the controversy surrounds a deal that moved a U.S. company, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, to Ireland, significantly dropping its tax obligation. Public filings show McFadden’s firm, Lazard Middle Market, made more than $11 million in the deal. McFadden was chief executive of the firm at the time, but told the AP he was not personally involved in the merger. In an interview Friday, the AP said McFadden “distanced himself” from the deal, saying that McFadden portrayed it “as a one-sided business maneuver driven by Jazz and its financial adviser — not the Irish drugmaker Azur Pharma, which his firm represented.” The deal in question involved a so-called tax inversion, a legal maneuver that allows U.S. companies to merge with a foreign partner and then reincorporate abroad to reap tax savings.More…