Ohio company strikes offshore tax deal

An Ohio-based medical supplies maker announced Monday that it would purchase a smaller British competitor, becoming the latest company seeking to cuts it tax bill by shifting its legal address offshore.

{mosads}Steris’s $1.9 billion purchase will allow it to cut its taxes by millions of dollars a year and down to an effective rate of roughly 25 percent, the company said Monday.

In a statement, Steris’s chief executive declined to discuss the tax implications of the deal — an approach taken by other companies seeking a so-called inversion deal.

“Once the transaction is completed, New Steris will be a stronger global leader in infection prevention and sterilization, better-positioned to provide comprehensive solutions to medical device companies, pharma companies, and hospitals around the world,” said Walt Rosebrough, the Steris chief executive.

Steris’s decision also illustrates the mixed impact of the Treasury Department’s new executive actions aimed at combating tax inversions. Medtronic has said in recent weeks that it would need new outside funding for its merger with Covidien, and a North Carolina pharmaceutical company, Salix, declined to move ahead with a deal.

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew has said for weeks that legislation would be the strongest way to battle inversions, even as he stressed that the Obama administration’s action could make the deals less attractive to companies.