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Acquisitions
12 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2013
Acquisitions
24. Acquisitions

 

(1) Game Show Network acquisition

In March 2011, Sony acquired an additional 5% equity interest in Game Show Network (“GSN”) from the other investor in GSN (the “Current Investor”) for 4,849 million yen, resulting in Sony owning a 40% equity interest in GSN. As part of the acquisition, Sony obtained a controlling interest in GSN, including the ability to appoint the majority of representatives on the GSN management committee, control over approval of the budget for GSN and control over the hiring, terminating and setting compensation of the senior management of GSN. This acquisition will strengthen Sony’s presence in U.S. cable networks and Sony expects that it will allow GSN to further exploit and benefit from the light entertainment assets in the Pictures segment.

Prior to the March 2011 acquisition, Sony’s interest in GSN was accounted for under the equity method of accounting. As a result of Sony obtaining a controlling interest in GSN, Sony consolidated GSN using the acquisition method of accounting and recorded the assets and liabilities of GSN at fair value, including 45,905 million yen of goodwill, 47,323 million yen of intangible assets, an 18,779 million yen redeemable noncontrolling interest and a 40,728 million yen noncontrolling interest. The intangible assets were primarily comprised of television carriage agreements (broadcasting agreements) of 33,698 million yen with a weighted-average amortization period of 20 years. In accordance with the accounting guidance for business combinations achieved in stages, Sony remeasured the 35% equity interest in GSN that it owned prior to the acquisition at a fair value of 33,940 million yen which resulted in the recognition of a gain of 26,991 million yen recorded in other operating (income) expense, net.

No value was allocated to in-process research and development in this acquisition. Goodwill represents unidentifiable intangible assets, such as future growth from new revenue streams and synergies with Sony’s existing assets and businesses, and is calculated as the excess of the purchase price over the estimated fair value of the net tangible and intangible assets acquired and is not deductible for tax purposes. The goodwill recorded in connection with this acquisition is included in the Pictures segment.

The results of operations of GSN are included in the Pictures segment after the acquisition date. The following unaudited supplemental pro forma financial information presents the combined results of operations of Sony and GSN as though the acquisition had occurred as of the beginning of the fiscal year ended March 31, 2011:

 

     Yen in millions,
except  per share data
 
     Fiscal year ended
March 31
 
     2011  
     (Unaudited)  

Net sales

     6,325,310   

Operating income

     199,445   

Net loss attributable to Sony Corporation’s stockholders

     (259,731

Basic EPS

     (258.81

Diluted EPS

     (258.81

The unaudited supplemental pro forma financial information is based on estimates and assumptions, which Sony believes are reasonable and is not intended to represent or be indicative of what Sony’s consolidated net loss attributable to Sony Corporation’s stockholders would have been had the acquisition been completed at the beginning of each of these periods and should not be taken as indicative of Sony’s future consolidated net loss attributable to Sony Corporation’s stockholders. The unaudited supplemental pro forma financial information includes a gain from remeasurement of the previously owned equity interest and incremental intangible asset amortization, net of the related tax effects.

In addition to acquiring the additional 5% equity interest in GSN, Sony granted a put right to the Current Investor and received a call right from the Current Investor for an additional 18% equity interest in GSN. The put right was exercisable during three windows starting on April 1 of 2012, 2013 and 2014 and lasting for 60 business days (each such period, a “Trigger Window”). In the event that GSN’s audited financial statements for the most recently completed calendar year are not available on April 1, the Trigger Window shall commence on the day when GSN’s audited financial statements are delivered to the Current Investor. The exercise price of the put was calculated using a formula based on an agreed upon multiple of the earnings of GSN with a minimum price of 234 million U.S. dollars and a maximum price of 288 million U.S. dollars. In September 2012, the Current Investor exercised its put right to sell an 18% interest in GSN to Sony for 234 million U.S. dollars (the “GSN Share Purchase”). The GSN Share Purchase received regulatory approval and closed on December 7, 2012 (the “Closing Date”). Prior to the Current Investor exercising its put right, the portion of the noncontrolling interest that could be put to Sony was accounted for as redeemable securities because redemption was outside of Sony’s control and was reported in the mezzanine equity section in the consolidated balance sheets. After exercise, the 234 million U.S. dollars owed to the Current Investor (the “Put Payment”) is payable to the Current Investor in two payments of 117 million U.S. dollars each plus interest thereon at 10% per annum from the Closing Date to each payment date. The first payment is due no later than April 15, 2013 and the second payment is due no later than April 15, 2014; provided, however, that Sony may make either payment at any time up to the due date with no prepayment penalty. Sony paid the first payment of 117 million U.S. dollars plus interest of 3.8 million U.S. dollars to the Current Investor on April 2, 2013. A buy/sell provision also applies to the equity interests in GSN owned by Sony and the Current Investor and may be exercised annually for a 60 business day window beginning April 1, 2015.

 

(2) Sony Ericsson acquisition

On February 15, 2012, Sony acquired Ericsson’s 50% equity interest in Sony Ericsson, resulting in Sony Ericsson becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony. The transaction also provided Sony with a broad intellectual property cross-licensing (“IP cross-licensing”) agreement and ownership of five essential patent families relating to wireless handset technology. The total consideration consisted of 107,174 million yen (1,050 million euros) of cash. The agreement with Ericsson also provided for contingent consideration depending on the level of certain specified costs. Based on the estimated level of the specified costs, no amounts were expected to be paid under this arrangement and therefore no amounts were recorded as additional consideration. This acquisition will integrate Sony Ericsson, renamed Sony Mobile, into Sony’s platform of network-connected consumer electronics products with the aim of accelerating convergence.

Prior to the acquisition, Sony’s interest in Sony Ericsson was accounted for under the equity method of accounting. As a result of Sony obtaining a controlling interest in Sony Ericsson, Sony consolidated Sony Ericsson using the acquisition method of accounting and recorded the fair value of the identifiable assets, liabilities assumed, noncontrolling interest and residual goodwill of Sony Ericsson. In accordance with the accounting guidance for business combinations achieved in stages, Sony remeasured the 50% equity interest in Sony Ericsson that it owned prior to the acquisition at a fair value of 71,449 million yen which resulted in the recognition of a gain of 102,331 million yen recorded in other operating (income) expense, net. Sony elected not to record a deferred tax liability corresponding to the difference between the financial reporting basis which was remeasured to fair value upon an acquisition of a controlling interest in a foreign entity and the tax basis in the previously held ownership interest. In addition, accumulated translation adjustments of 11,690 million yen remained as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income.

The following table summarizes the fair values assigned to the assets and liabilities of Sony Ericsson that were recorded in the MP&C segment, and the IP cross-licensing that was assigned to Corporate for segment reporting purposes.

 

     Yen in millions  
     Acquired
assets  and
liabilities
recorded at

fair  value
as of the
acquisition
date
 

Cash and cash equivalents

     35,331   

Notes and accounts receivable, trade

     54,522   

Inventories

     54,095   

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

     28,618   

Property, plant and equipment

     18,075   

Intangibles

     123,097   

Goodwill

     128,522   

Other noncurrent assets

     22,463   
  

 

 

 

Total assets

     464,723   

Notes and accounts payable, trade

     66,522   

Accounts payable, other and accrued expenses

     61,467   

Other current liabilities

     136,938   

Other noncurrent liabilities

     7,126   
  

 

 

 

Total liabilities

     272,053   

Noncontrolling interest

     14,047   
  

 

 

 

Total

     178,623   
  

 

 

 

 

No value was allocated to in-process research and development in this acquisition as no material amounts were identified; however, certain significant research and development activities were substantially completed as of the acquisition date and included within acquired intangible assets as developed technology. Goodwill represents unidentifiable intangible assets, such as future growth from new revenue streams, increased market share particularly in emerging markets and the U.S., synergies with existing Sony assets and businesses and an assembled workforce, and is calculated as the excess of the purchase price over the estimated fair value of the net tangible and intangible assets acquired and is not deductible for tax purposes. The goodwill recorded in connection with this acquisition is included in the MP&C segment.

The intangible assets are comprised of the following:

 

     Yen in millions      Years  
     Acquired
intangibles
recorded at
fair value
     Weighted-average
amortization period
 

Intangibles subject to amortization

     

IP cross-licensing

     60,834         6   

Developed technology

     24,599         9   

Customer relationships

     19,597         14   

Trademarks

     14,086         7   

Other

     3,981         7   
  

 

 

    

Total intangibles

     123,097      
  

 

 

    

The following unaudited supplemental pro forma financial information presents the combined results of operations of Sony and Sony Ericsson as though the acquisition had occurred as of the beginning of the fiscal year ended March 31, 2011:

 

     Yen in millions,
except per share data
 
     Fiscal year ended March 31  
     2011     2012  
     (Unaudited)  

Net sales

     6,901,151        5,941,131   

Operating income (loss)

     231,895        (187,725

Net loss attributable to Sony Corporation’s stockholders

     (226,038     (654,833

Basic EPS

     (225.24     (652.50

Diluted EPS

     (225.24     (652.50

The unaudited supplemental pro forma financial information is based on estimates and assumptions, which Sony believes are reasonable and is not intended to represent or be indicative of what Sony’s consolidated net loss attributable to Sony Corporation’s stockholders would have been had the acquisition been completed at the beginning of the fiscal year ended March 31, 2011 and should not be taken as indicative of Sony’s future consolidated net loss attributable to Sony Corporation’s stockholders. The unaudited supplemental pro forma financial information includes:

 

   

the elimination of equity in net income (loss) and consolidation of Sony Ericsson;

 

   

the gain from remeasurement of the previously owned equity interest;

 

   

incremental intangible asset amortization, net of the related tax effects;

 

   

certain royalty adjustments; and

 

   

additional debt issuance costs and interest expense, incurred in connection with the acquisition.

 

(3) Sony Semiconductor acquisition

On April 1, 2011, Sony Semiconductor Kyushu Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation, acquired from Toshiba Corporation (“Toshiba”) for 57,451 million yen semiconductor fabrication equipment and certain related assets. Sony Semiconductor Kyushu Corporation has subsequently changed its name to Sony Semiconductor Corporation, effective November 1, 2011. Sony’s goal in acquiring the assets is to further strengthen its production capacity for CMOS image sensors.

The assets were operated by Nagasaki Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (“NSM”), a joint venture among Toshiba, Sony Corporation and Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation. Subsequent to the acquisition, Sony entered into a three year sale and leaseback transaction regarding certain of the acquired machinery and equipment with its equity interest affiliate, SFIL, and received proceeds of 50,537 million yen based on the amounts recorded at fair value in the acquisition. These transactions are included within other in the investing activities section of the consolidated statements of cash flows.

In connection with the acquisition, Toshiba and Sony terminated their NSM joint venture relationship. Sony also entered into a supply arrangement to manufacture and supply system LSIs to Toshiba for one year following the acquisition.

The following table summarizes the fair values assigned to the assets acquired at the acquisition date.

 

     Yen in millions  
     Acquired
assets
recorded at
fair value
 

Inventories

     4,370   

Other current assets

     82   

Machinery and equipment

     51,083   

Intangibles

     1,223   

Other noncurrent assets

     693   
  

 

 

 

Total

     57,451   
  

 

 

 

As the purchase price was fully allocated to identifiable tangible and intangible assets and no liabilities were assumed, there was no goodwill recorded as part of the acquisition. The unaudited supplemental pro forma results of operations have not been presented because the effect of the acquisition was not material.

 

(4) Other acquisitions

During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2011, Sony completed other acquisitions for total consideration of 2,884 million yen which was paid primarily in cash and there was no material contingent consideration subject to future change. As a result of the acquisitions, Sony recorded 1,415 million yen of goodwill and 1,227 million yen of intangible assets.

During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2012, Sony completed other acquisitions for total consideration of 7,914 million yen which was paid primarily in cash and there was no material contingent consideration subject to future change. As a result of the acquisitions, Sony recorded 5,853 million yen of goodwill and 3,345 million yen of intangible assets.

During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013, Sony completed other acquisitions for total consideration of 39,022 million yen which was paid primarily in cash and included the August 10, 2012, acquisition of Gaikai for total cash consideration of 28,167 million yen. Gaikai has developed a high quality, fast interactive cloud-streaming platform that enables streaming of a broad array of content ranging from immersive core games with rich graphics to casual content to a wide variety of devices via the internet. There was no material contingent consideration subject to future change. As a result of Sony’s acquisition of Gaikai and other businesses, Sony recorded 27,699 million yen of goodwill and 11,511 million yen of intangible assets.

No significant amounts have been allocated to in-process research and development and all of the entities described above have been consolidated into Sony’s results of operations since their respective acquisition dates. Pro forma results of operations have not been presented because the effects of Gaikai and the other acquisitions, individually and in aggregate, were not material.