Discontinued Operations

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

Discontinued Operation, Income (Loss) from Discontinued Operation Disclosures [Abstract]

Discontinued Operations

Discontinued Operations

On August 9, 2010, the Company sold its Authentication Services business, including outstanding shares of capital stock of VeriSign Japan and trademarks and certain intellectual property used in the Authentication Services business (including the Company’s checkmark logo and the Geotrust and thawte brand names), to Symantec for cash consideration of approximately $1.14 billion, net of cash held by transferred subsidiaries of $127.5 million and transaction costs of $10.8 million. Also included with the sale of the Authentication Services business were certain corporate assets, namely real and personal property owned by the Company at its Mountain View facility and other locations, which were transferred to the Authentication Services reporting unit before the sale. The Company recorded a gain on sale of $726.2 million, net of tax of $254.3 million. The gain on sale also reflects the realization of foreign currency translation adjustments of $15.3 million previously included in Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) and the deconsolidation of non-controlling interest in VeriSign Japan of $54.3 million.

In November 2010, the Company ceased the operations of its Content Portal Services business.

The following table presents the revenues and the components of discontinued operations, net of tax:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2012			2011			2010
	(In thousands)
Revenues	$	—		$	44		$	248,740
Income (loss) from discontinued operations before income taxes	$	11,141		$	(538	)	$	63,906
Gains on sale of discontinued operations, before income taxes	—			451			979,560
Income tax (expense) benefit	(3,594		)	4,422			(279,644		)
Income from discontinued operations	7,547			4,335			763,822
Less: Income from discontinued operations, net of tax,
attributable to noncontrolling interest in subsidiary	—			—			(2,887		)
Total income from discontinued operations, net of tax,
attributable to Verisign stockholders	$	7,547		$	4,335		$	760,935

Income from discontinued operations in 2012 is primarily related to the reimbursement of previously incurred litigation and legal defense costs received upon the settlement of indemnification claims with selling shareholders of a previously acquired business that was later divested. Income from discontinued operations in 2012 also represents the reversal of certain retained liabilities and the reversal of certain accruals for retained litigation related to the prior operations of a divested business. Loss from discontinued operations before income taxes for 2011 represents the effects of certain retained litigation of the divested businesses. Income tax benefit for discontinued operations for 2011 includes a benefit from the settlement of a foreign income tax liability that had resulted from the sale of the Authentication Services business in 2010. The amounts presented as discontinued operations in 2010 primarily represent the results of operations and net gains and losses on the sale of the Authentication Services business. The Company has determined direct costs of the Authentication Services business consistent with the manner in which it was structured and managed. Indirect costs such as corporate overhead that was not directly attributable to the Authentication Services business have not been allocated to discontinued operations.