Pfizer’s chief executive has called on Washington to support its $160bn takeover of Dublin-based Allergan, as politicians including Hillary Clinton lined up against the drugmaker’s attempt to slash its tax bill by moving overseas.

辉瑞(Pfizer)首席执行官呼吁华盛顿支持其斥资1600亿美元收购都柏林制药商艾尔健(Allergan)的计划，而希拉里克林顿(Hillary Clinton)等政界人士纷纷表态反对这家制药企业试图通过将总部迁往海外来削减在美国的税负。

The third largest announced deal in history, it caps a frenzied year of mergers and acquisitions and brings the total value of global deals unveiled since the start of 2015 to more than $4.2tn. This surpasses the previous record set in 2007 on the eve of the financial crisis, according to Thomson Reuters.

史上宣布的规模第三大交易为忙碌的并购之年画上句号，它使自2015年初以来宣布的全球并购交易总价值超过4.2万亿美元。汤森路透(Thomson Reuters)称，这将超过2007年金融危机前夕创下的纪录。

Pfizer, founded in Brooklyn in 1849, stands to save at least $21bn in future tax bills by moving the combined group to Ireland, according to tax experts, joining other brands that have fled overseas through “inversions”, such as Burger King and Liberty Global, John Malone’s cable group.

税务专家认为，1849年成立于布鲁克林(Brooklyn)的辉瑞如果效仿其他品牌将合并后的公司迁往爱尔兰，将为其削减至少210亿美元的税负。汉堡王(Burger King)、约翰氠馚(John Malone)的有线电视集团Liberty Global等品牌已通过“税收倒置”(inversions)操作迁往海外。

The deal, which requires US regulators’ approval, drew condemnation from Mrs Clinton, the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination. Ian Read, Pfizer’s chief executive, countered it would allow the combined group to boost spending on discovering new drugs by giving access to cash that had been trapped overseas.

这笔需要美国监管机构批准的交易，招致了民主党总统候选人提名领跑者希拉里的谴责。辉瑞首席执行官伊恩里德(Ian Read)反驳称，该交易将使合并后的公司利用此前困于海外的现金加大新药研发投入。