Why Foreign Acquisitions Are Apple's Future

[dkf]

January 13, 2012  |  about: AAPL    

Could Apple (AAPL) be taking up soccer? It's been reported Apple might buy the EPL rights market covering the British soccer league. Ipads, Ipods, Iphones, and now, Isoccer? What will the tabloids think of next. However, Apple is likelier to buy the TV rights to English soccer than American baseball for a simple reason: That's where their money is.

There's a common thread why Apple bought patents from Nortel (Canadian), took over Anobit (Israeli), and may be contemplating buying the rights to British soccer beyond that these are great ideas. The pattern: All are foreign. Apple is looking outside the U.S. for its growth, and there is a good reason for that.

Apple's awash in foreign cash: $54 billion of its $82 billion in cash and investments lies off-shore. More importantly, foreign cash is growing much faster than its greenback counterpart. Apple added $23 billion to its foreign subsidiaries in 2011, dwarfing the $7 billion added in the U.S. When Apple prints its earnings on January 24, it's a near certain bet that over three-quarters of the cash accumulated will be overseas.

While the $27 billion available in the U.S. is still a mind-boggling number, it's nowhere near the colossal holdings present in Apple's foreign subsidiaries. And remember, that $27 billion is what is available to fuel Apple's U.S. operations and potential stateside acquisitions, buybacks and dividends. A tidy sum, but then again, the $54 billion held overseas is growing much faster and lets Apple do so much more. As they say, follow the money.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/319496-why-foreign-acquisitions-are-apple-s-future?source=email_rt_article&ifp=0

Apple Lobbying for International Tax Amnesty to Bring Home Profits

Over the past few years, much has been made of Apple's reserves of cash and securities, which are now up to approximately $60 billion and growing rapidly. Some observers have suggested the company initiate a stock buyback or issue dividends to reward investors with some of the profits, while others have preferred that the cash remain in Apple's hands to enable the company to reinvest it into the business at some point in the future for greater returns. Apple CEO Steve Jobs noted during the company's October 2010 earnings conference call that Apple is holding onto the cash in order to take advantage of "one or more unique strategic opportunities" that it believes may present itself.

But all of the money may not be available for immediate use, as Fortune reports that Apple is one of a number of U.S. companies with significant profits generated in international markets that continue to sit abroad as the companies prefer to not pay the 35% federal tax charged on such foreign earnings.

To address this situation, Apple and these other major players are reportedly stepping up lobbying efforts to try to get the federal government to offer a one-year "tax holiday" that would allow them to bring the profits back to the United States while only being subjected to 5% tax, with the rationale being that the money could be put to work in the U.S. to stimulate the economy rather than simply sitting in foreign bank accounts.
A group of tech, pharmaceutical and energy giants is readying a major lobbying blitz for a tax holiday that would allow them to bring home the estimated $1 trillion they've got parked overseas at a steeply discounted rate, Fortune has learned.

The campaign is still in its planning stages, but sources close to the effort say Oracle, Cisco, Apple, Duke Energy, and Pfizer are among the major players looking to bankroll a coordinated, sustained pitch to sell policymakers on the idea. Their aim is to win a one-year tax amnesty on their foreign earnings, allowing them to repatriate that money at a tax rate of about 5%, instead of the 35% they face now.

http://www.macrumors.com/2011/02/16/apple-lobbying-for-international-tax-amnesty-to-bring-home-profits/

[dkf]

2. I'm just wondering if we aren't shooting ourselves in the foot by not letting them repatriate

And do their acquisitions here.

Won't this lead to more R&D and jobs overseas?