Equifax 2000 Annual Report Download - page 32

Recent Accounting Pronouncements and Accounting Change In June 1998, the FASB issued
Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 133 (SFAS 133), “Accounting for Derivative
Instruments and Hedging Activities.” SFAS 133 establishes accounting and reporting standards
for derivative instruments and hedging activities and is effective (as amended by SFAS No. 137)
on January 1, 2001 for the Company. Based on its current level of derivative instruments and
hedging activities, the Company does not believe that the adoption of SFAS 133 will have a
significant impact on its financial statements or reported earnings.
"2.ACQUISITIONS AND INVESTMENTS IN UNCONSOLIDATED AFFILIATES
During 2000, the Company acquired or increased its ownership in the following businesses:
Month Industry Percentage
Business Acquired Segment Ownership
Organizacion Veraz S.A. (Argentina) December Latin America 79.5%1
SEK S.r.l. and AIF Gruppo Securitas S.r.l. (Italy) November Europe 100.0%
Compliance Data Center, Inc. October North America 100.0%
Equifax Card Solutions Limited (U.K.) September Card Solutions 100.0%2
Consumer Information Solutions (CIS)
Group of R.L. Polk & Co. May Consumer Services 100.0%
Check-A-Cheque Ltd. (U.K.) March Check Solutions 100.0%
Procard, S.A. (Chile) January Card Solutions 100.0%
Propago, S.A. (Chile) January Latin America 100.0%
1Increased to 79.5% from 66.7% acquired in 1997 and 1994
2Increased from 51.0% ownership started in 1999
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In 2000, in addition to the businesses above,
the Company acquired the credit files of 12
credit affiliates located in the United States and
14 affiliates in Canada, as well as a portfolio of
credit card merchant contracts from Heartland
Payment Systems. These acquisitions were
accounted for as purchases and had an aggre-
gate purchase price of $394,563,000, with
$242,873,000 allocated to goodwill and
$78,770,000 allocated to purchased data files.
They were purchased with a combination of
cash totaling $383,938,000 and the reissuance
of treasury stock with a fair market value of
$10,625,000. Their results of operations have
been included in the consolidated statements
of income from the dates of acquisition and
were not material.
In 1999, the Company acquired the credit files of
14 credit affiliates located in the United States
and three credit affiliates in Canada. They were
accounted for as purchases and had an aggre-
gate purchase price of $24,182,000, with
$7,508,000 allocated to goodwill and $15,954,000
allocated to purchased data files. Their results
of operations have been included in the consol-
idated statements of income from the dates of
acquisition and were not material.