Horizon Pharma relocates U.S. headquarters to Lake Forest
Specialty drug manufacturer Horizon Pharma, which moved its corporate headquarters from Deerfield to Ireland in 2014, announced it is relocating its U.S. headquarters from Deerfield to Lake Forest as part of a company expansion.
The Dublin-based company reported it signed a long-term sublease on a 160,000-square-foot building at 150 South Saunders Road. The new office space is about triple the size of the current headquarters and can accommodate nearly 600 employees, the company said in a release.
Horizon Pharma will occupy the first through fourth floors of the building, which once housed the Solo Cup Co. The expansion and relocation is expected to be completed by January.
Horizon Pharma Chairman, President and CEO Timothy P. Walbert said the company has added nearly 100 employees in its U.S. headquarters during the past year as the company has "experienced tremendous growth in the business overall.
"With this progress, as well as planning for future expansion, we needed to increase our physical space. Our new U.S. headquarters will provide us room to continue on this growth trajectory, and ultimately, to serve more patients," he added.
The company made headlines last year when it acquired Dublin-based Vidara Therapeutics for about $660 million. Horizon used the acquisition to move its corporate headquarters out of the United States in a process known as a tax inversion, which exempts the company from paying U.S. corporate taxes. The controversial move, which was done by a number of companies between 2012 and 2014, was criticized by Congressional leaders who threatened to close off the loophole. President Barack Obama at the time called it "unpatriotic."