Goodwill, Customer Relationships and Other Intangible Assets

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

Goodwill, Customer Relationships and Other Intangible Assets

Goodwill, Customer Relationships and Other Intangible Assets

(3) Goodwill, Customer Relationships and Other Intangible Assets

Goodwill, customer relationships and other intangible assets consisted of the following:

	Successor

	Weighted Average of Remaining Lives		December 31, 2012		December 31, 2011
			(Dollars in millions)
Goodwill		N/A	$	10,123		10,123

Customer relationships, less accumulated amortization of $1,736 and $770		8.3 years	$	5,822		6,788

Other intangible assets subject to amortization
Capitalized software, less accumulated amortization of $704 and $354		3.1 years		1,212		1,460
Trade names and patents, less accumulated amortization of $123 and $61		2.3 years and 5.8 years, respectively		65		127

Total other intangible assets, net			$	1,277		1,587

As of the successor date of December 31, 2012, the gross carrying amounts of goodwill, customer relationships and other intangible assets were $19.785 billion. These assets were recorded at fair value on April 1, 2011 as a result of CenturyLink's acquisition of us.

Total amortization expense for intangible assets was as follows:



	Successor				Predecessor
	Year Ended December 31, 2012		Nine Months Ended December 31, 2011		Three Months Ended March 31, 2011		Year Ended December 31, 2010
	(Dollars in millions)
Amortization expense for intangible assets	$	1,426		1,185		58		221

We amortize customer relationships primarily over an estimated life of 10 years, using either the sum-of-the-years-digits or straight-line methods, depending on the type of customer. We amortize capitalized software using the straight-line method over estimated lives ranging up to seven years and amortize our trademark and trade name assets using the sum-of-the-years digits method over an estimated life of four years. The estimated future amortization expense for intangible assets is as follows:

Successor	(Dollars in millions)

Year ending December 31,
2013	$	1,248
2014		1,143
2015		1,025
2016		921
2017		824
2018 and thereafter		1,938

We periodically review the estimated lives and methods used to amortize our other intangible assets. The actual amounts of amortization expense may differ materially from our estimates, depending on the results of our periodic reviews.

We have accounted for CenturyLink's acquisition of us under the acquisition method of accounting, which resulted in the assignment of the aggregate consideration to the assets acquired and liabilities assumed based on their acquisition date fair values. The fair value of the aggregate consideration transferred exceeded the acquisition date fair value of the recorded tangible and intangible assets, and assumed liabilities by $10.123 billion, which has been recognized as goodwill. The impairment testing is done at the reporting unit level; in reviewing the criteria for reporting units when allocating the goodwill resulting from our acquisition by CenturyLink, we have determined that we are one reporting unit. We are required to test goodwill recorded in business combinations for impairment at least annually, or more frequently if events or circumstances indicate there may be impairment. Our annual measurement date for testing goodwill impairment is September 30. We are required to write-down the value of goodwill only in periods in which the recorded amount of goodwill exceeds the fair value.

We adopted the provisions of ASU 2011-08 in the third quarter of 2011, Testing Goodwill for Impairment, which permits us to make a qualitative assessment of whether it is more likely than not that a reporting unit's estimated fair value is less than its carrying amount before applying the two step goodwill impairment test, which requires us (i) in step one, to identify potential impairments by comparing the estimated fair value of a reporting unit against its carrying value and (ii) in step two, to quantify any impairment identified in step one. At September 30, 2012, as a result of changes in our estimate of future cash flows we did not perform a qualitative assessment. Therefore, we determined the estimated fair value of Qwest using an equal weighting based on a market approach and a discounted cash flow method. The market approach includes the use of comparable multiples of publicly traded companies whose services are comparable to ours to corroborate. The discounted cash flow method is based on the present value of projected cash flows and a terminal value, which represents the expected normalized cash flows of Qwest beyond the cash flows from the discrete nine-year projection period. We discounted the estimated cash flows using a rate that represents a market participant's weighted average cost of capital, which we determined to be approximately 6.0% as of the measurement date (which was comprised of an after-tax cost of debt of 3.2% and a cost of equity of 8.4%). Based on our analysis performed with respect to our reporting unit described above, we concluded that our goodwill was not impaired.

- 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