I'm not up to date on the details of US tax law, but I'd be surprised if such a general anti avoidance rule does not exist. Mergers the size of this will alway

I'm not up to date on the details of US tax law, but I'd be surprised if such a general anti avoidance rule does not exist. Mergers the size of this will always have genuine economic incentives in place to do the deal. Add to that very well paid lawyers who will put together an amazing story to get the deal through. So it won't stop them. Also, this won't stop companies from being sold outright to a foreign competitor. If a Chinese company swoops in and buys the US company, these laws can not apply. It seems like an easy problem to fix, but it's extremely complex.