Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets

12 Months Ended

Apr. 27, 2011

Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets [Abstract]


5.	Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets

Changes in the carrying amount of goodwill for the fiscal year ended April 27, 2011, by reportable segment, are as follows:


	North
	American
	Consumer					Asia/			U.S.			Rest of
	Products		Europe			Pacific			Foodservice			World		Total
						(Thousands of Dollars)

Balance at April 29, 2009	$	1,074,841	$	1,090,998		$	248,222		$	260,523		$	13,204	$	2,687,788
Acquisitions		6,378		—			—			—			—		6,378
Purchase accounting adjustments		—		(895	)		(3,030	)		—			—		(3,925	)
Disposals		—		(483	)		—			(2,849	)		—		(3,332	)
Translation adjustments		21,672		17,124			44,233			—			980		84,009

Balance at April 28, 2010		1,102,891		1,106,744			289,425			257,674			14,184		2,770,918
Acquisitions		—		—			77,345			—			300,227		377,572
Purchase accounting adjustments		—		(278	)		(10,688	)		—			—		(10,966	)
Translation adjustments		8,846		114,774			35,998			—			1,299		160,917

Balance at April 27, 2011	$	1,111,737	$	1,221,240		$	392,080		$	257,674		$	315,710	$	3,298,441

During the fourth quarter of Fiscal 2011, the Company completed its annual review of goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets. No impairments were identified during the Company’s annual assessment of goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets.

During the fourth quarter of Fiscal 2011, the Company finalized the purchase price allocation for the Foodstar acquisition resulting primarily in immaterial adjustments between goodwill, accrued liabilities and income taxes. Also, during the fourth quarter of Fiscal 2011, the Company acquired Coniexpress and a preliminary purchase price allocation was recorded. The Company expects to finalize the purchase price allocation related to the Coniexpress acquisition upon completion of third party valuation procedures. All of the purchase accounting adjustments reflected in the above table relate to acquisitions completed prior to April 30, 2009, the first day of Fiscal 2010. Total goodwill accumulated impairment losses for the Company were $84.7 million consisting of $54.5 million for Europe, $2.7 million for Asia/Pacific and $27.4 million for Rest of World as of April 29, 2009, April 28, 2010 and April 27, 2011.

During Fiscal 2010, the Company divested its Kabobs and Appetizers And, Inc. frozen hors d’oeuvres businesses within the U.S. Foodservice segment, and completed the sale of its private label frozen desserts business in the U.K. These sale transactions resulted in disposals of goodwill, trademarks and other intangible assets. See Note 3 for additional information.

Trademarks and other intangible assets at April 27, 2011 and April 28, 2010, subject to amortization expense, are as follows:


	April 27, 2011							April 28, 2010
	Gross		Accum Amort			Net		Gross		Accum Amort			Net
						(Thousands of dollars)

Trademarks	$	297,020	$	(83,343	)	$	213,677	$	267,435	$	(73,500	)	$	193,935
Licenses		208,186		(158,228	)		49,958		208,186		(152,509	)		55,677
Recipes/processes		90,553		(31,988	)		58,565		78,080		(26,714	)		51,366
Customer-related assets		224,173		(57,555	)		166,618		180,302		(43,316	)		136,986
Other		79,045		(54,833	)		24,212		66,807		(54,157	)		12,650

	$	898,977	$	(385,947	)	$	513,030	$	800,810	$	(350,196	)	$	450,614

Amortization expense for trademarks and other intangible assets was $29.0 million, $28.2 million and $28.2 million for the fiscal years ended April 27, 2011, April 28, 2010 and April 29, 2009, respectively. Based upon the amortizable intangible assets recorded on the balance sheet as of April 27, 2011, amortization expense for each of the next five fiscal years is estimated to be approximately $29 million.

Intangible assets not subject to amortization at April 27, 2011 totaled $1,085.7 million and consisted of $942.5 million of trademarks, $122.5 million of recipes/processes, and $20.7 million of licenses. Intangible assets not subject to amortization at April 28, 2010 totaled $847.1 million and consisted of $701.2 million of trademarks, $113.8 million of recipes/processes, and $32.1 million of licenses.

- Definition

Discloses 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 or 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. This element may be used as a single block of text to include the entire intangible asset disclosure including data and tables.

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