Several large pharmaceutical and medical device companies recently announced tax inversion transactions to acquire international targets to redomicile in countries with lower tax rates. These deals included AbbVie acquiring Shire for $54 billion, Medtronic acquiring Covidien for $43 billion, Perrigo acquiring Elan's business for $8.6 billion, Mylan acquiring Abbott's established pharmaceuticals business for $5.3 billion, Salix acquiring Cosmo's business for $2.7 billion, and Horizon acquiring Vidara for $0.7 billion.