Horizon returns to Deerfield, buys former Takeda campus
A pharmaceutical company that left Deerfield in 2014 to take advantage of lower corporate taxes in Ireland will be bringing its U.S. operations back to the suburb.
Dublin-based Horizon Therapeutics announced Tuesday it will acquire the 70-acre site formerly occupied by Takeda Pharmaceutical for an undisclosed sum.
The company, whose portfolio includes the rheumatoid arthritis drug Rayos and prescription-strength ibuprofen drug Duexis, plans to move more than 500 employees from its current U.S. headquarters in Lake Forest to the new location in the second half of the year, according to Geoffrey M. Curtis, executive vice president, corporate affairs and chief communications officer for Horizon
Timothy Walbert, chairman, president and chief executive officer, said the company is moving to accommodate its growth over the past three years. Curtis said Horizon has about 1,200 employees globally, and Walbert noted the company added more than 200 employees in 2019.
"This new campus gives us the flexibility to accommodate our current employees as well as our anticipated long-term growth," Walbert said. "Lake County has a rich life sciences ecosystem and we are looking forward to continuing to contribute to and lead the growth of that ecosystem."
The three-building Deerfield campus on Lake-Cook Road has more than 650,000 square feet of building space and was vacated by Japan-based Takeda in 2019 following its acquisition of Ireland-based Shire PLC.
Local and Lake County officials said at the time they had received inquiries on the site and did not expect it to be vacant for a long time.
The move was hailed Tuesday by local and state leaders, as well as by officials from the state's Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. Curtis said Horizon did not receive state tax incentives for the move.
Deerfield Mayor Harriet Rosenthal said she was "thrilled to welcome Horizon back to Deerfield.
"Horizon's innovative spirit and its commitment to patients, employees and the communities in which they live and work has been extensively recognized," Rosenthal added. "We welcome its deep community spirit to the village of Deerfield and look forward to a long and prosperous relationship with Horizon and its employees."
Kevin Considine, president and CEO of economic development group Lake County Partners, said the initial impact will the county's economy will be negligible, but the new location gives Horizon the ability to expand even more, which will add to the county's long-term economic health.
"A parcel the size and uniqueness of the Takeda property being on the market is rare," Considine said. "It was an opportunity they could not pass up."
Horizon, which has its roots in Lake County, made headlines in 2014 when it acquired Dublin-based Vidara Therapeutics for about $660 million, then moved its headquarters from Deerfield out of the United States in a process known as a tax inversion, which exempts the company from paying U.S. corporate taxes. While Horizon still calls Ireland its home and pays that country's corporate taxes, it has based its U.S. operations in Lake Forest since 2016, and also operates a satellite office in downtown Chicago. Curtis said there will be no changes at the Chicago office.
Commercial real estate firm CBRE represented Horizon in the property acquisition.