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Intangible assets and goodwill
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2010
Intangible assets and goodwill  
Intangible assets and goodwill

 

 

 

10.  Intangible assets and goodwill

 

A.    Intangible assets

 

Intangible assets are comprised of the following:

 

 

 

 

 

December 31, 2010

 

(Millions of dollars)

 

Weighted
Amortizable
Life (Years)

 

Gross
Carrying
Amount

 

Accumulated
Amortization

 

Net

 

Customer relationships

 

17

 

$

630

 

$

(108

)

$

522

 

Intellectual property

 

9

 

306

 

(166

)

140

 

Other

 

13

 

197

 

(72

)

125

 

Total finite-lived intangible assets

 

14

 

1,133

 

(346

)

787

 

Indefinite-lived intangible assets - In-process research & development

 

 

 

18

 

 

18

 

Total intangible assets

 

 

 

$

1,151

 

$

(346

)

$

805

 

 

 

 

 

 

December 31, 2009

 

(Millions of dollars)

 

Weighted
Amortizable
Life (Years)

 

Gross
Carrying
Amount

 

Accumulated 
Amortization

 

Net

 

Customer relationships

 

18

 

$

396

 

$

(75

)

$

321

 

Intellectual property

 

10

 

211

 

(143

)

68

 

Other

 

11

 

130

 

(54

)

76

 

Total intangible assets

 

15

 

$

737

 

$

(272

)

$

465

 

 

 

 

 

 

December 31, 2008

 

(Millions of dollars)

 

Weighted
Amortizable
Life (Years)

 

Gross
Carrying
Amount

 

Accumulated 
Amortization

 

Net

 

Customer relationships

 

18

 

$

388

 

$

(50

)

$

338

 

Intellectual property

 

10

 

210

 

(122

)

88

 

Other

 

11

 

122

 

(37

)

85

 

Total intangible assets

 

15

 

$

720

 

$

(209

)

$

511

 

 

During 2010, we acquired finite-lived intangible assets aggregating $409 million primarily due to purchases of Electro-Motive Diesel, Inc. (EMD) ($329 million), GE Transportation’s Inspection Products business ($28 million), JCS Company, Ltd. (JCS) ($12 million) and FCM Rail Ltd. (FCM) ($10 million).  Also, associated with the purchase of EMD, we acquired $18 million of indefinite-lived intangible assets.  See Note 23 for details on these business combinations.

 

During 2008, the Cat Japan share redemption resulted in additional finite-lived intangible assets of $54 million.  In 2008, we acquired finite-lived intangible assets of $17 million due to the purchase of Lovat Inc.  See Note 23 for details on these business combinations.  Also in 2008, we acquired finite-lived intangible assets of $32 million from other acquisitions.

 

Finite-lived intangible assets are amortized over their estimated useful lives and tested for impairment if events or changes in circumstances indicate that the asset may be impaired.  Indefinite-lived intangible assets are tested for impairment at least annually.

 

Amortization expense related to intangible assets was $76 million, $61 million and $61 million for 2010, 2009 and 2008, respectively.

 

Amortization expense related to intangible assets is expected to be:

 

(Millions of dollars)

 

2011

 

2012

 

2013

 

2014

 

2015

 

Thereafter

 

$

86

 

$

80

 

$

73

 

$

69

 

$

63

 

$

434

 

 

B.   Goodwill

 

During 2010, we acquired net assets with related goodwill of $286 million as part of the purchase of EMD.  In 2010, we also acquired net assets with related goodwill as part of the purchases of FCM ($17 million), GE Transportation’s Inspection Products business ($15 million), JCS ($8 million) and other acquisitions ($8 million).  See Note 23 for details on the acquisition of these assets.

 

During 2008, the Cat Japan share redemption resulted in $206 million of goodwill.  In 2008, we also acquired net assets with related goodwill as part of the purchase of Gremada Industries, Inc. ($41 million) and Lovat Inc. ($22 million).  See Note 23 for details on these business combinations.  Also during 2008, we acquired net assets with related goodwill of $8 million from other acquisitions.

 

See Note 1L regarding the accounting policy for goodwill and impairment testing.  No goodwill was impaired or disposed of during 2010 or 2008.

 

The 2009 annual impairment test, completed in the fourth quarter, indicated the fair value of each of our reporting units was well above its respective carrying value with the exception of our Forest Products reporting unit, included in the Resource Industries segment.  Because the carrying value of Forest Products exceeded its fair value, step two in the impairment test process was required.  We allocated the fair value to the unit’s assets and liabilities and determined the implied fair value of the goodwill was insignificant.  Accordingly, a goodwill impairment charge of $22 million for Forest Products was recognized in Other operating (income) expense in Statement 1.  The primary factor contributing to the impairment was the historic decline in demand for purpose built forest product machines caused by the significant reduction in U.S. housing construction, lower prices for pulp, paper, and wood product commodities, and reduced capital availability in the forest products industry.

 

As discussed in Note 22 – Segment Information, during the first quarter of 2011, we revised our reportable segments in line with the changes to our organizational structure that were announced during 2010.  Our reporting units did not change as a result of the changes to our reportable segments.

 

The changes in carrying amount of goodwill by reportable segment for the years ended December 31, 2010, 2009 and 2008 were as follows:

 

(Millions of dollars)

 

 

 

Construction 
Industries

 

Resource 
Industries

 

Power 
Systems

 

Other(1)

 

Consolidated 
Total

 

Balance at January 1, 2008

 

$

86

 

$

47

 

$

1,742

 

$

88

 

$

1,963

 

Business combinations

 

206

 

22

 

8

 

41

 

277

 

Other adjustments(2)

 

27

 

(3

)

(3

)

 

21

 

Balance at December 31, 2008

 

319

 

66

 

1,747

 

129

 

2,261

 

Impairments

 

 

(22

)

 

 

(22

)

Other adjustments(2)

 

23

 

3

 

4

 

 

30

 

Balance at December 31, 2009

 

342

 

47

 

1,751

 

129

 

2,269

 

Business combinations

 

5

 

3

 

326

 

 

334

 

Other adjustments(2)

 

10

 

1

 

 

 

11

 

Balance at December 31, 2010

 

$

357

 

$

51

 

$

2,077

 

$

129

 

$

2,614

 

 

 

(1)      Includes all other operating segments (See Note 22).

(2)      Other adjustments are comprised primarily of foreign currency translation.