Paradise Papers: Mauritius the apple of Aspen’s eye
Low-tax Mauritius has been the key site in Aspen’s remarkable growth, but this has nothing to do with aggressive tax planning, transfer pricing or complex structuring, insists CEO Stephen Saad
Aspen Pharmacare, the largest anaesthetics supplier in the world and the biggest pharmaceutical company in the southern hemisphere, has had a horrid year. It has been accused of "price-gouging" by European competition regulators and has been subjected to a nasty competition commission probe at home in SA. So the last thing CEO Stephen Saad wanted was Aspen’s name all over the "Paradise Papers". But given that Aspen had made extensive use of Appleby, the offshore law firm from which 6.8m documents leaked, and that Aspen owns 71 companies through Mauritius, a pivotal "secrecy jurisdiction" with low tax rates, it was probably inevitable. "We understand there may be companies established in Mauritius with little or no substance," Saad says. "Nothing could be further from the truth in respect of the Aspen Group." He says his company is fastidious about avoiding illegitimate structures. He points out that Aspen Global manufactures drugs, structures deals and does real work in Mauritius, w...
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