Goodwill and Intangible Assets

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

NOTE 3. Goodwill and Intangible Assets

Purchased goodwill from acquisitions totaled $1.3 billion in 2017, none of which is deductible for tax purposes. Purchased goodwill from acquisitions totaled $14 million in 2016, none of which is deductible for tax purposes. The acquisition activity in the following table also includes the net impact of adjustments to the preliminary allocation of purchase price within the one year measurement-period following prior acquisitions, which increased goodwill by $39 million during 2016. The amounts in the “Translation and other” column in the following table primarily relate to changes in foreign currency exchange rates. The goodwill balance by business segment follows:

Goodwill


	Dec. 31,		2016		2016		Dec. 31,		2017		2017		2017		Dec. 31,
	2015		acquisition		translation		2016		acquisition		divestiture		translation		2017
(Millions)	Balance		activity		and other		Balance		activity		activity		and other		Balance
Industrial	$	2,573	$	—	$	(37)	$	2,536	$	—	$	—	$	142	$	2,678
Safety and Graphics		3,342		41		(59)		3,324		1,296		(323)		122		4,419
Health Care		1,624		12		(27)		1,609		6		—		67		1,682
Electronics and Energy		1,510		—		(21)		1,489		—		—		35		1,524
Consumer		200		—		8		208		—		—		2		210
Total Company	$	9,249	$	53	$	(136)	$	9,166	$	1,302	$	(323)	$	368	$	10,513

Accounting standards require that goodwill be tested for impairment annually and between annual tests in certain circumstances such as a change in reporting units or the testing of recoverability of a significant asset group within a reporting unit. At 3M, reporting units correspond to a division.

As described in Note 17, effective in the first quarter of 2017, the Company changed its business segment reporting in its continuing effort to improve the alignment of its businesses around markets and customers. For any product changes that resulted in reporting unit changes, the Company applied the relative fair value method to determine the impact on goodwill of the associated reporting units. During the first quarter of 2017, the Company completed its assessment of any potential goodwill impairment for reporting units impacted by this new structure and determined that no impairment existed. The Company also completed its annual goodwill impairment test in the fourth quarter of 2017 for all reporting units and determined that no impairment existed. In addition, the Company had no impairments of goodwill in prior years.

Acquired Intangible Assets

The carrying amount and accumulated amortization of acquired finite-lived intangible assets, in addition to the balance of non-amortizable intangible assets, as of December 31, follow:


	December 31,		December 31,
(Millions)	2017		2016
Customer related intangible assets	$	2,332	$	1,939
Patents		561		602
Other technology-based intangible assets		583		524
Definite-lived tradenames		678		420
Other amortizable intangible assets		207		211
Total gross carrying amount	$	4,361	$	3,696

Accumulated amortization — customer related		(874)		(797)
Accumulated amortization — patents		(489)		(497)
Accumulated amortization — other technology based		(292)		(302)
Accumulated amortization — definite-lived tradenames		(256)		(236)
Accumulated amortization — other		(162)		(173)
Total accumulated amortization	$	(2,073)	$	(2,005)

Total finite-lived intangible assets — net	$	2,288	$	1,691

Non-amortizable intangible assets (primarily tradenames)		648		629
Total intangible assets — net	$	2,936	$	2,320

Certain tradenames acquired by 3M are not amortized because they have been in existence for over 55 years, have a history of leading-market share positions, have been and are intended to be continuously renewed, and the associated products of which are expected to generate cash flows for 3M for an indefinite period of time.

Amortization expense for the years ended December 31 follows:


(Millions)	2017		2016		2015
Amortization expense	$	238	$	262	$	229

Expected amortization expense for acquired amortizable intangible assets recorded as of December 31, 2017 follows:


											After
(Millions)	2018		2019		2020		2021		2022		2022
Amortization expense	$	252	$	242	$	231	$	221	$	208	$	1,134

The preceding expected amortization expense is an estimate. Actual amounts of amortization expense may differ from estimated amounts due to additional intangible asset acquisitions, changes in foreign currency exchange rates, impairment of intangible assets, accelerated amortization of intangible assets and other events. 3M expenses the costs incurred to renew or extend the term of intangible assets.

- 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.

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