Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Abstract]

Goodwill

Goodwill represents the excess of purchase price and related costs over the value assigned to the net tangible and identifiable intangible assets of businesses acquired.

The change in the carrying amount of goodwill by segment is shown below:



(in millions)	Ratings			Market and Commodities Intelligence			Indices		Total
Balance as of December 31, 2015	$	114		$	2,392		$	376	$	2,882
Acquisitions	—			106			7		113
Dispositions	—			(35		)	—		(35		)
Other ¹	(5		)	(6		)	—		(11		)
Balance as of December 31, 2016	109			2,457			383		2,949
Other ¹	5			27			8		40
Balance as of December 31, 2017	$	114		$	2,484		$	391	$	2,989


¹	Primarily relates to the impact of foreign exchange and valuation adjustments for prior period acquisitions. 2016 includes adjustments related to SNL and Petromedia. 2017 includes adjustments related to PIRA, Trucost, RigData and Commodity Flow.

Goodwill additions and dispositions in the table above relate to transactions discussed in Note 2 – Acquisitions and Divestitures.

Other Intangible Assets

Other intangible assets include both indefinite-lived assets not subject to amortization and definite-lived assets subject to amortization. We have indefinite-lived assets with a carrying value of $714 million as of December 31, 2017 and 2016 that consist of the following:


•	$380 million and $90 million for Dow Jones Indices intellectual property and the Dow Jones tradename, respectively, that we recorded as part of the transaction to form S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC in 2012.


•	$185 million within our Market and Commodities Intelligence segment for the SNL tradename.


•	$59 million within our Indices segment for the Goldman Sachs Commodity Index intellectual property and the Broad Market Indices intellectual property.

The following table summarizes our definite-lived intangible assets:



(in millions)
Cost	Databases and software			Content		Customer relationships			Tradenames			Other intangibles			Total
Balance as of December 31, 2015	$	510		$	139	$	168		$	47		$	269		$	1,133
Acquisitions	—			—		—			—			98			98
Dispositions	—			—		—			(2		)	(8		)	(10		)
Impairment ¹	(2		)	—		—			—			(22		)	(24		)
Reclassifications	—			—		165			1			(166		)	—
Other (primarily Fx)	(2		)	—		(3		)	(1		)	(8		)	(14		)
Balance as of December 31, 2016	506			139		330			45			163			1,183
Dispositions	(4		)	—		(2		)	—			—			(6		)
Other ²	52			—		19			5			(86		)	(10		)
Balance as of December 31, 2017	$	554		$	139	$	347		$	50		$	77		$	1,167

Accumulated amortization
Balance as of December 31, 2015	$	88		$	73	$	60		$	36		$	67		$	324
Current year amortization	47			14		21			2			12			96
Dispositions	—			—		—			(1		)	(6		)	(7		)
Impairment ¹	(2		)	—		—			—			(10		)	(12		)
Reclassifications	2			—		5			—			(7		)	—
Other (primarily Fx)	(3		)	—		(2		)	(1		)	(4		)	(10		)
Balance as of December 31, 2016	132			87		84			36			52			391
Current year amortization	52			14		22			4			6			98
Dispositions	(3		)	—		(2		)	—			(1		)	(6		)
Reclassifications	2			—		1			1			(4		)	—
Other (primarily Fx)	4			—		1			1			4			10
Balance as of December 31, 2017	$	187		$	101	$	106		$	42		$	57		$	493

Net definite-lived intangibles:
December 31, 2016	$	374		$	52	$	246		$	9		$	111		$	792
December 31, 2017	$	367		$	38	$	241		$	8		$	20		$	674


¹	Relates to a technology-related impairment charge at Market and Commodities Intelligence and recorded in selling and general expenses in the consolidated statement of income.


²	Primarily relates to the impact of foreign exchange and valuation adjustments for prior period acquisitions. 2017 includes adjustments related to PIRA, Trucost, RigData and Commodity Flow.

Definite-lived intangible assets are being amortized on a straight-line basis over periods of up to 20 years. The weighted-average life of the intangible assets as of December 31, 2017 is approximately 12 years.

Amortization expense for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015 was $98 million, $96 million, and $67 million, respectively. Expected amortization expense for intangible assets over the next five years for the years ended December 31, assuming no further acquisitions or dispositions, is as follows:



(in millions)	2018		2019		2020		2021		2022
Amortization expense	$	95	$	88	$	82	$	70	$	68

- 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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