Democratic White House hopefuls cheer end of Pfizer, Allergan deal

Reuters
Democratic U.S. presidential candidates Senator Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton pose before the start of the Univision News and Washington Post Democratic U.S. presidential candidates debate in Kendall, Florida March 9, 2016. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

(Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders on Wednesday cheered the end of U.S. drugmaker Pfizer Inc's <PFE.N> $160 billion merger with Ireland-based Allergan Plc <AGN.N>.

"Glad to hear Pfizer is calling off the merger. We need to close the loopholes that let corporations escape paying their taxes," Clinton said on Twitter.

Sanders said on the social media site that he applauded President Barack Obama for new rules aimed at curbing so-called inversion deals, which Pfizer said led it to scrap the deal.

(Reporting by Emily Stephenson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)