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Canada: Burger King cleared for inversion deal

By  |  October 28, 2014

US fast food giant Burger King has been cleared by Canadian competition officials to move forward with its plans to acquire donut chain Tim Hortons and relocate its tax bracket across the boarder.

Reports say Canada’s Competition Bureau extended approval to the $11 billion takeover, which earned criticism as Burger King looks for lower taxes outside the US. While the Bureau focused only on the deal’s potential effects on competition, reports say regulators will also need to approve the deal on grounds it will offer a net benefit to Canada’s economy.

Some Canadian lawmakers have also suggested that Burger King’s plans prove Canada’s tax laws encourage foreign investment. But regulators across the globe have begun to scrutinize such inversion mergers; the European Commission, for example, is probing whether the deals constitute unfair state aid for foreign corporations.

Full content: Wall Street Journal

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