## Purchase Price Allocation 

Over the past several years, we have acquired several companies that complement our business operations. Over the past three years, the total cash paid for acquisitions, less cash acquired, was $281.9 million. As of December 31, 2010, we have recorded $317.7 million of goodwill arising from acquisitions. As of December 31, 2010, we allocated $251.7 million of gross value to intangible assets, primar- ily for customer-related assets, technology-based assets, and intel- lectual property. The estimated useful lives of the intangible assets range from one to 25 years. 

Management judgment is required in allocating the purchase price to the acquired assets and liabilities. For each acquisition, we allo- cate the purchase price to the assets acquired, liabilities assumed, and goodwill in accordance with ASC 805, Business Combinations . Once it has been determined that recognition of an asset or liability in a business combination is appropriate, the asset or liability gen- erally is measured at fair value in accordance with the principles of ASC 820, Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures . Fair value is the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to trans- fer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. 

The determination of the fair values of intangible assets requires significant management judgment in each of the following areas: 

U  Identify the acquired intangible assets: For each acquisition, we identify the intangible assets acquired. These intangible assets generally consist of customer relationships, trademarks and tradenames, technology-related intangibles including internally developed software and databases, and non-compete agreements. 

U  Estimate the fair value of these intangible assets: We consider various approaches to value the intangible assets. These valua- tion approaches include the cost approach, which measures the value of an asset based on the cost to reproduce it or replace it with another asset of like utility; the market approach, which values the asset through an analysis of sales and offerings of comparable assets; and the income approach, which measures the value of an asset based by measuring the present worth of the economic benefits it is expected to produce. 

U  Estimate the remaining useful life of the assets: For each intan- gible asset, we use judgment and assumptions to establish the remaining useful life of the asset. For example, for customer relationships, we determine the estimated useful life with refer- ence to observed customer attrition rates. For technology-related assets such as databases, we make judgments about the demand for current data and historical metrics in establishing the remain- ing useful life. For internally developed software, we estimate an obsolescence factor associated with the software. 

U  Assess the appropriate method for recording amortization expense over the intangible asset’s useful life: We use judgment to deter- mine the rate at which the amortization expense should be rec- ognized. In accordance with ASC 350, Intangibles—Goodwill and Other , the method of amortization should reflect the pattern in which the economic benefits of the intangible asset are con- sumed or otherwise used up. If that pattern cannot be reliably determined, a straight-line amortization method should be used. Based on this guidance, we amortize intangible assets over their expected useful life using a straight-line amortization method. 

We believe that the accounting estimates related to purchase price allocations are critical accounting estimates because the assump- tions impact the amounts and classifications of assets and liabilities presented in our Consolidated Balance Sheets, the amount of amor- tization and depreciation expense, if any, recorded in our Consolidated Statements of Income, and the impairment testing performed in subsequent periods. 

## Goodwill 

Goodwill recorded on our Consolidated Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2010 was $317.7 million. In accordance with ASC 350, Intangibles—Goodwill and Other , we do not amortize goodwill. Instead, it is subject to an impairment test annually, or whenever indicators of impairment exist, based on a discounted cash-flow model. An impairment would occur if the carrying amount of a report- ing unit, including goodwill, exceeded the fair value of that report- ing unit. Our reporting units are components of our reportable segments and constitute businesses for which discrete financial information, which is regularly reviewed by management, is avail- able. We performed annual impairment reviews in the fourth quarter of 2010, 2009, and 2008 and did not record any impairment losses in these years, reflecting our assessment that our estimates of fair value substantially exceeded the carrying value of our reporting units. 

