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Restructuring and Asset Impairment Charges
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2013
Restructuring and Asset Impairment Charges  
Restructuring and Asset Impairment Charges

NOTE 3 — Restructuring and Asset Impairment Charges

 

In the second quarter of 2012, the Company decided to restructure its business operations in Kenya and to close its manufacturing plant in the country.  As part of that decision, the Company recorded $20 million of restructuring charges to its Statement of Income consisting of an $8 million charge to realize the cumulative translation adjustment associated with the Kenyan operations, a $6 million fixed asset impairment charge, a $2 million charge to reduce certain working capital balances to net realizable value based on the announced closure, $2 million of costs primarily consisting of severance pay related to the termination of the majority of its employees in Kenya and $2 million of additional charges related to this restructuring.

 

As part of the Company’s ongoing strategic optimization, in the third quarter of 2012, the Company decided to exit its investment in Shouguang Golden Far East Modified Starch Co., Ltd (“GFEMS”), a non-wholly-owned consolidated subsidiary in China.  In conjunction with that decision, the Company recorded a $4 million impairment charge to reduce the carrying value of GFEMS to its estimated net realizable value.  The Company also recorded a $1 million charge for impaired assets in Colombia in 2012.  The Company sold its interest in GFEMS in 2012 for $3 million in cash, which approximated the carrying value of the investment in GFEMS following the aforementioned impairment charge.

 

Additionally, as part of a manufacturing optimization program developed in conjunction with the acquisition of National Starch to improve profitability, in the second quarter of 2011 the Company committed to a plan to optimize its production capabilities at certain of its North American facilities.  The plan was completed in October 2012.  As a result, the Company recorded restructuring charges to write-off certain equipment by the plan completion date.  These charges totaled $11 million and $10 million in 2012 and 2011, respectively, of which $10 million and $8 million represented accelerated depreciation on the equipment.