my wife used to work as a tax attorney for Elsevier in Amsterdam and while it is true the company was founded in the Netherlands (Haarlem actually), the main reason they are still there are the excellent "tax facilities" (euphemism for a great deal with the tax man).
A surprisingly large number of companies have a 'great deal' with the tax man behind closed doors whether in US or elsewhere. Published corporate tax rates are, admittedly anecdotally but from good sources, not representative of what corporations actually pay.
Understandably, a company providing jobs and infrastructure investment in the local area can always strike a deal.
