Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets

12 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2011

Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets

8. Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets

Goodwill

The Company tests goodwill for impairment at least annually and more frequently upon the occurrence of certain events, which may indicate that impairment has occurred. The provisions of the accounting guidance for goodwill require that a two-step impairment test be performed on goodwill. In the first step, the Company compares the fair value, which is determined by the use of a discounted cash flow technique, of the reporting unit to its carrying value. If the fair value of the reporting unit exceeds the carrying value of the net assets of that reporting unit, goodwill is not impaired and the Company is not required to perform further testing. If the carrying value of the net assets assigned to the reporting unit exceeds the fair value of that unit, then the Company must perform the second step of the impairment test in order to determine the implied fair value of the reporting entity's goodwill. If the carrying value of a reporting unit's goodwill exceeds it implied fair value, the Company records an impairment loss equal to the difference.

The Company performed its annual assessment of goodwill of the Windtec and PSNA reporting units on March 31, 2011. The Company's annual assessment date corresponded with a triggering event caused by the refusal by Sinovel to accept scheduled shipments from the Company on March 31, 2011. As a result of reductions in its revenue and operating forecasts related to Sinovel and certain of its other customers in China, the Company determined that the goodwill related to both the Windtec and PSNA reporting units was fully impaired. Accordingly, the Company recorded impairment charges of $42.1 million and $6.9 million for the Windtec and PSNA reporting units, respectively during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010.

The following table presents goodwill for the fiscal years ended March 31, 2011 and 2010 is as follows (in thousands):













Balance at April 1, 2009	$			26,233
Contingent consideration				10,828


Net foreign exchange rate impact			(365)
Balance at March 31, 2010		36,696
Contingent consideration		10,004

Impairment of goodwill		(48,959)
Net foreign exchange rate impact		2,259


Balance at March 31, 2011	$	-

Intangible Assets

Intangible assets at March 31, 2011 and 2010 consisted of the following (in thousands):

	2011			2010

	Gross Amount	Accumulated Amortization	Net Book Value	Gross Amount	Accumulated Amortization	Net Book Value	Estimated Useful Life
Licenses	$ 2,908	$ (2,100 )	$ 808	$ 1,924	$ (1,690 )	$ 234	7
Patents	9,038	(4,891 )	4,147	7,531	(3,965 )	3,566	7
Contractual relationships / backlog	-	-	-	3,463	(3,416 )	47	2
Customer relationships	-	-	-	2,638	(1,908 )	730	3 - 5
Trade names and trademarks	1,281	(778 )	503	1,223	(568 )	655	7
Core technology and know-how	5,841	(4,245 )	1,596	5,646	(3,108 )	2,538	5 - 10

Intangible assets	$ 19,068	$ (12,014 )	$ 7,054	$ 22,425	$ (14,655 )	$ 7,770

The Company recorded intangible amortization expense of $2.9 million, $2.7 million, and $2.8 million for the fiscal years ended March 31, 2011, 2010, and 2009, respectively and impairment charges of $0.4 million for the year ended March 31, 2011. During fiscal year ended March 31, 2011, certain fully amortized or impaired intangible assets were removed from the gross and related accumulated amortization accounts.

Expected future amortization expense related to intangible assets is as follows (in thousands):


For the fiscal years ended March 31,	Total
2012	$ 2,444
2013	1,442
2014	1,027
2015	672
2016	574
Thereafter	895

Total	$ 7,054

The geographic composition of goodwill and intangible assets is as follows (in thousands):


	March 31,
	2011	2010
Goodwill by geography:
U.S.	$ -	$ 6,861
Europe	-	29,835

Total	$ -	$ 36,696


	March 31,
	2011	2010
Intangible assets by geography:
U.S.	$ 5,210	$ 4,475
Europe	1,844	3,295

Total	$ 7,054	$ 7,770

The business segment composition of intangible assets is as follows (in thousands):

	March 31,
	2011	2010
Intangible assets by business segments:
AMSC Power Systems	$ 4,002	$ 5,034
AMSC Superconductors	3,052	2,736

Total	$ 7,054	$ 7,770

- Definition

Discloses 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 or 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. This element may be used as a single block of text to include the entire intangible asset disclosure including data and tables.

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