Goodwill and Intangible Assets

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2015

Note 5. Goodwill and Intangible Assets

Goodwill by reportable segment was:


	As of March 31,		As of December 31,
	2015		2014
	(in millions)

Latin America	$	1,004	$	1,127
Asia Pacific		2,314		2,395
EEMEA		1,775		1,942
Europe		8,338		8,952
North America		8,925		8,973

Goodwill	$	22,356	$	23,389

Intangible assets consisted of the following:


	As of March 31,			As of December 31,
	2015			2014
	(in millions)

Non-amortizable intangible assets	$	18,017		$	18,810
Amortizable intangible assets		2,407			2,525

		20,424			21,335
Accumulated amortization		(990	)		(1,000	)

Intangible assets, net	$	19,434		$	20,335

Non-amortizable intangible assets consist principally of brand names purchased through our acquisitions of Nabisco Holdings Corp., the Spanish and Portuguese operations of United Biscuits, the global LU biscuit business of Groupe Danone S.A. and Cadbury Limited. Amortizable intangible assets consist primarily of trademarks, customer-related intangibles, process technology, licenses and non-compete agreements. At March 31, 2015, the weighted-average life of our amortizable intangible assets was 13.3 years.

Amortization expense for intangible assets was $46 million in the three months ended March 31, 2015 and $54 million in the three months ended March 31, 2014. We currently estimate annual amortization expense for each of the next five years to be approximately $190 million, estimated using March 31, 2015 exchange rates.

During our 2014 review of non-amortizable intangible assets, we recorded an impairment charge of $57 million within asset impairment and exit costs for the impairment of intangible assets in Asia Pacific and Europe. We also noted three brands with $341 million of aggregate book value as of December 31, 2014 that each had a fair value in excess of book value of 10% or less. While these intangible assets passed our annual impairment testing and we believe our current plans for each of these brands will allow them to continue to not be impaired, if expectations are not met or specific valuation factors outside of our control, such as discount rates, change significantly, then a brand or brands could become impaired in the future.

Changes in goodwill and intangible assets consisted of:


				Intangible
	Goodwill			Assets, at Cost
	(in millions)

Balance at January 1, 2015	$	23,389		$	21,335
Changes due to:
Currency		(1,052	)		(969	)
Acquisition		19			58

Balance at March 31, 2015	$	22,356		$	20,424

Refer to Note 2, Divestitures and Acquisitions, for additional information related to the Enjoy Life acquisition completed in the first quarter.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the aggregate amount of goodwill and a description of intangible assets, which may include (a) for amortizable intangible assets (also referred to as finite-lived intangible assets), the carrying amount, the amount of any significant residual value, and the weighted-average amortization period, (b) for intangible assets not subject to amortization (also referred to as indefinite-lived intangible assets), the carrying amount, and (c) the amount of research and development assets acquired and written off in the period, including the line item in the income statement in which the amounts written off are aggregated, if not readily apparent from the income statement. Also discloses (a) for amortizable intangibles assets in total and by major class, the gross carrying amount and accumulated amortization, the total amortization expense for the period, and the estimated aggregate amortization expense for each of the five succeeding fiscal years, (b) for intangible assets not subject to amortization the carrying amount in total and by major class, and (c) for goodwill, in total and for each reportable segment, the changes in the carrying amount of goodwill during the period (including the aggregate amount of goodwill acquired, the aggregate amount of impairment losses recognized, and the amount of goodwill included in the gain (loss) on disposal of a reporting unit). If any part of goodwill has not been allocated to a reportable segment, discloses the unallocated amount and the reasons for not allocating. For each impairment loss recognized related to an intangible asset (excluding goodwill), discloses: (a) a description of the impaired intangible asset and the facts and circumstances leading to the impairment, (b) the amount of the impairment loss and the method for determining fair value, (c) the caption in the income statement or the statement of activities in which the impairment loss is aggregated, and (d) the segment in which the impaired intangible asset is reported. For each goodwill impairment loss recognized, discloses: (a) a description of the facts and circumstances leading to the impairment, (b) the amount of the impairment loss and the method of determining the fair value of the associated reporting unit, and (c) if a recognized impairment loss is an estimate not finalized and the reasons why the estimate is not final. May also disclose the nature and amount of any significant adjustments made to a previous estimate of an impairment loss.

+ References+ Details