Goodwill and Intangible Assets

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

Goodwill and Intangible Assets

Goodwill and Intangible Assets

NOTE 4. Goodwill and Intangible Assets

Goodwill

There was no goodwill recorded from acquisitions during 2020. Goodwill from acquisitions total $3.5 billion in 2019, none of which was 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 decreased goodwill by $34 million during 2020. 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:

(Millions)	Safety and Industrial		Transportation and Electronics		Health Care		Consumer		Total Company
Balance as of December 31, 2018	$	4,716	$	1,857	$	3,248	$	230	$	10,051
Acquisition activity		—		—		3,469		—		3,469
Divestiture activity		(49)		—		—		—		(49)
Translation and other		(46)		(27)		22		24		(27)
Balance as of December 31, 2019	$	4,621	$	1,830	$	6,739	$	254	$	13,444
Acquisition activity		—		—		(34)		—		(34)
Divestiture activity		—		(10)		(19)		—		(29)
Translation and other		66		38		306		11		421
Balance as of December 31, 2020	$	4,687	$	1,858	$	6,992	$	265	$	13,802

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 19, effective in the first quarter of 2020, the Company changed its business segment reporting. 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, the results of which were immaterial. In conjunction with the change in segment reporting, 3M completed an assessment indicating no goodwill impairment existed as a result of this new segment structure. Goodwill balances reported above reflect these business segment reporting changes in the earliest period presented. The Company also completed its annual goodwill impairment test in the fourth quarter of 2020 for all reporting units and determined that no impairment existed. In addition, the Company had no impairments of goodwill in 2019 or 2018.

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)	2020		2019
Customer related intangible assets	$	4,280	$	4,316
Patents		537		538
Other technology-based intangible assets		2,114		2,124
Definite-lived tradenames		1,178		1,158
Other amortizable intangible assets		104		125
Total gross carrying amount	$	8,213	$	8,261
Accumulated amortization — customer related		(1,422)		(1,180)
Accumulated amortization — patents		(512)		(499)
Accumulated amortization — other technology-based		(638)		(435)
Accumulated amortization — definite-lived tradenames		(385)		(316)
Accumulated amortization — other		(79)		(90)
Total accumulated amortization	$	(3,036)	$	(2,520)
Total finite-lived intangible assets — net	$	5,177	$	5,741
Non-amortizable intangible assets (primarily tradenames)		658		638
Total intangible assets — net	$	5,835	$	6,379

Certain tradenames acquired by 3M are not amortized because they have been in existence for over 60 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. As discussed in Note 15, 3M reflected an immaterial charge related to impairment of certain indefinite-lived assets in the first quarter of 2020.

Amortization expense for the years ended December 31 follows:

(Millions)	2020		2019		2018
Amortization expense	$	537	$	341	$	249

Expected amortization expense for acquired amortizable intangible assets recorded as of December 31, 2020 follows:

											After
(Millions)	2021		2022		2023		2024		2025		2025
Amortization expense	$	528	$	515	$	488	$	459	$	428	$	2,759

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.