That strategy works in some countries, not in others. Not sure about the US. In certain countries a profitable company can acquire a company with carry forward

That strategy works in some countries, not in others. Not sure about the US. In certain countries a profitable company can acquire a company with carry forward tax losses, and by merging both you can offset profits from the profitable company with the losses of the unprofitable one. Not exactly extreme tax avoidance I'd say. This is quite a well known mechanism.