Impact of US tax reform on the pharmaceutical industry

[Salma]

Hi All,

So I have picked the above topic for the ‘what issue have you been following in the press and how will it affect us’ (the firm in question has a strong reputation representing pharma companies hence the link between M&A and the pharma industry) and I am having difficulties on how to start dividing my answer in a way that 1)answers the questions and 2)highlights the problems,solutions and my personal opinion to my proposed topic. I have started it off with something along the lines of...


Following my time shadowing the M&A and tax department at X Y Z firm, the impact of US tax reform on the pharmaceutical industry has caught my interest. This tax reform would significantly impact (list out the problems) and then from here onwards I don’t know how to proceed with my answer.

Any advice?

Thanks

 

[MightyMoe]

Thats a nice way to link the issue to yourself. What do you mean by problems?

I tend to structure it like:
paragraph 1
- brief 1-2 sentence intro
- list out main issues
paragraph 2
- link to the firm
- main ways the firm is affected or what it can do to help

In terms of my opinion I usually structure my conclusion to each paragraph around that. So I might say 'whilst this issue is a risk, I don't think it's likely to happen because of ...'

 

[Salma]

Thats a nice way to link the issue to yourself. What do you mean by problems?

I tend to structure it like:
paragraph 1
- brief 1-2 sentence intro
- list out main issues
paragraph 2
- link to the firm
- main ways the firm is affected or what it can do to help

In terms of my opinion I usually structure my conclusion to each paragraph around that. So I might say 'whilst this issue is a risk, I don't think it's likely to happen because of ...'

*XYZ = the firm

Thank you for your tips! Problems as in the negative impact of US tax reform on the firm's pharmaceutical clients but that will probably fall under the list of the main issues point you noted in the paragraph 1 structure.

The issue I feel like I am missing is linking it to the firm... Should I be saying something along the lines of... XYZ are lead advisers on tax litigation and investigations as illustrated in their instrumental work with (talk about the deal I researched), and then proceed with the solutions the firm can utilise to minimise the impact of US tax reform on their clients. I do not know if I am overthinking this but any advice? Thanks in advance!

 

[MightyMoe]

*XYZ = the firm

Thank you for your tips! Problems as in the negative impact of US tax reform on the firm's pharmaceutical clients but that will probably fall under the list of the main issues point you noted in the paragraph 1 structure.

The issue I feel like I am missing is linking it to the firm... Should I be saying something along the lines of... XYZ are lead advisers on tax litigation and investigations as illustrated in their instrumental work with (talk about the deal I researched), and then proceed with the solutions the firm can utilise to minimise the impact of US tax reform on their clients. I do not know if I am overthinking this but any advice? Thanks in advance!

Oh I see. Are there likely to be problems? I'm sure you're right I just would've thought its a good thing for them. That's definitely one way to do it, I think as long as you're focusing on how it impacts the firm and it's a relatively clear link. I usually pick 2-3 reasons for example "lower taxes could lead to more pharma M&A because..[point here]. This would impact XYZ because they work for a number of pharma clients including [Pharma 1] and [Pharma 2]. If XYZ continues to build up its presence in the US and markets its strength in M&A, it could win mandates for legal work...".

 

[Salma]

Oh I see. Are there likely to be problems? I'm sure you're right I just would've thought its a good thing for them. That's definitely one way to do it, I think as long as you're focusing on how it impacts the firm and it's a relatively clear link. I usually pick 2-3 reasons for example "lower taxes could lead to more pharma M&A because..[point here]. This would impact XYZ because they work for a number of pharma clients including [Pharma 1] and [Pharma 2]. If XYZ continues to build up its presence in the US and markets its strength in M&A, it could win mandates for legal work...".

Yes, I think the benefits of this tax reform is a good thing because it would lead to an increase of M&A deals etc but Urm I wanted to address the opposing perspective aswell if you get what I mean. Thanks for all your help!

 

[MightyMoe]

Yes, I think the benefits of this tax reform is a good thing because it would lead to an increase of M&A deals etc but Urm I wanted to address the opposing perspective aswell if you get what I mean. Thanks for all your help!

No problem I'm doing one of these answers right now!