SEC Company Response from STEWART W P & CO LTD (CIK 0000750443) — Nov 30, 2005
STEWART W P & CO LTD (CIK 0000750443)
Date: Nov. 30, 2005 · CIK: 0000750443 · Accession: 0001169232-05-005546
AI Filing Summary & Sentiment
File numbers found in text: 001-16245
Referenced dates: October 18, 2005, October 7, 2005
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<TYPE>CORRESP
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[Letterhead of W.P. Stewart & Co., Ltd.]
November 30, 2005
VIA EDGAR
Ms. Joyce Sweeney
Accounting Branch Chief
Division of Corporate Finance
United States Securities and
Exchange Commission
100 F Street, N.E.
Washington, D.C. 20549
Re: W.P. Stewart & Co., Ltd.
Form 20-F for Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2004
File No. 001-16245
Dear Ms. Sweeney:
W.P. Stewart & Co., Ltd. (the "Company") is hereby responding to the
comment letter of the Staff, dated October 18, 2005, in respect of the Company's
Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2004 (the "Annual
Report") filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 16, 2005.
Terms utilized in this letter shall have the same meanings as were ascribed to
them in the Annual Report.
In furtherance to our response letter dated October 7, 2005, the Staff
asked for additional information regarding the Company's intangible assets shown
on its balance sheet as of December 31, 2004. Specifically, the Staff requested
the Company to provide it with information regarding the gross amount and
accumulated amortization of customer relationship intangible assets separated
based on the estimated useful life for each period presented in the Annual
Report.
Customer relationship intangible assets arose from the acquisition of
First Long Island Investors, Inc. ("FLII"), TPRS Services N.V. ("TPRS"), NS
Money Management (Bermuda) Limited ("NSMM") and TPR & Partners N.V. ("TPR"). The
tables below provide the information requested:
<PAGE>
Ms. Joyce Sweeney
November 30, 2005
Page 2 of 5
For the year ended December 31, 2004:
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Accumulated
Client Relationship Intangibles Gross Amount Amortization Carrying Value
------------------------------- ------------ ------------ --------------
<S> <C> <C> <C>
Estimated Useful Life - 15 years:
FLII $ 10,953,894 $ 3,738,783 $ 7,215,111
TPRS 9,323,536 2,959,682 6,363,854
TPR 1,995,000 416,126 1,578,874
------------- ------------- -------------
22,272,430 7,114,591 15,157,839
------------- ------------- -------------
Estimated Useful Life - 20 years:
FLII 12,749,194 2,184,927 10,564,267
TPRS 33,044,236 5,531,658 27,512,578
NSMM 17,042,406 3,635,590 13,406,816
------------- ------------- -------------
62,835,836 11,352,175 51,483,661
------------- ------------- -------------
$ 85,108,266 $ 18,466,766 $ 66,641,500
============= ============= =============
</TABLE>
For the year ended December 31, 2003:
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Accumulated
Client Relationship Intangibles Gross Amount Amortization Carrying Value
------------------------------- ------------ ------------ --------------
<S> <C> <C> <C>
Estimated Useful Life - 15 years:
FLII $ 10,953,894 $ 2,957,094 $ 7,996,800
TPRS 9,323,536 2,301,001 7,022,535
TPR 1,995,000 283,126 1,711,874
------------- ------------- -------------
22,272,430 5,541,221 16,731,209
------------- ------------- -------------
Estimated Useful Life - 20 years:
FLII 12,749,194 1,430,336 11,318,858
TPRS 29,946,152 3,693,719 26,252,433
NSMM 17,042,406 2,681,751 14,360,655
------------- ------------- -------------
59,737,752 7,805,806 51,931,946
------------- ------------- -------------
$ 82,010,182 $ 13,347,027 $ 68,663,155
============= ============= =============
</TABLE>
<PAGE>
Ms. Joyce Sweeney
November 30, 2005
Page 3 of 5
For the year ended December 31, 2002:
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Accumulated
Client Relationship Intangibles Gross Amount Amortization Carrying Value
------------------------------- ------------ ------------ --------------
<S> <C> <C> <C>
Estimated Useful Life - 15 years:
FLII $ 10,953,894 $ 2,175,407 $ 8,778,487
TPRS 9,323,536 1,642,320 7,681,216
TPR 1,995,000 150,126 1,844,874
------------- ------------- -------------
22,272,430 3,967,853 18,304,577
------------- ------------- -------------
Estimated Useful Life - 20 years:
FLII 8,880,394 675,746 8,204,648
TPRS 22,674,924 2,067,363 20,607,561
NSMM 14,708,762 1,727,912 12,980,850
------------- ------------- -------------
46,264,080 4,471,021 41,793,059
------------- ------------- -------------
$ 68,536,510 $ 8,438,874 $ 60,097,636
============= ============= =============
</TABLE>
In addition, the Staff asked for a comprehensive analysis of how the
estimated useful life for each significant customer intangible was determined
and how it was determined that such useful lives remain appropriate as of
December 31, 2004.
As previously noted in our response letter dated October 7, 2005, the
manner of determining useful lives was previously described to the Staff in the
Company's October 1, 1999 response letter to Mr. William Friar of your office
(in connection with the Company's initial public offering). The quoted
information below has been extracted from that response letter. The customer
relationships were segregated into the buckets shown above. Please note that
there is no statistically valid basis for further segregating the customer
relationships within the group obtained in each acquisition. Please also note
that effective January 1, 2002, the Company adopted the provisions of Statement
of Financial Accounting Standards No. 141 "Business Combinations" ("SFAS No.
141") and Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 142 "Goodwill and
Other Intangible Assets". Accordingly, any amounts of previously recognized
intangible assets that met the recognition criteria in paragraph 39 of SFAS No.
141, and that were included in the amount reported as goodwill were reclassified
as intangible assets apart from goodwill. As described in the October 1, 1999
response letter to the Staff mentioned above, these intangible assets, with an
estimated useful life of 20 years, are being amortized in a manner consistent
with industry practice.
"TPRS and FLI. The book values of the assets acquired (investment
management contracts and the associated client relationships) and the
liabilities assumed of both TPRS and FLI are either zero or de minimis.
Historically, FLI and the
<PAGE>
Ms. Joyce Sweeney
November 30, 2005
Page 4 of 5
sellers of TPRS have referred clients to the Company in exchange for a
fee. This fee was based on the level of assets under management. The terms
and conditions of each of these arrangements are documented in contracts
between the Company and each acquired entity, and contracts between the
Company and the clients. These contracts are all terminable upon 30 days'
notice. FLI and TPRS continue to receive referral fees for as long as the
referred clients maintain their assets under management. By acquiring FLI
and TPRS, the Company acquires direct access to these clients (i.e. client
relationships) and to the future annual referral fees related to these
contracts. As a result, the principal benefit to the Company from these
acquisitions is the contracts, the acquired client relationships and
goodwill. Goodwill represents FLI's and TPRS's ability to attract new
clients in the future...
"Client relationships - The acquired client relationships were valued by
considering the portion of the management fees earned by FLI and TPRS in
relation to the existing clients on the acquisition date. The fee base was
increased by the expected increase in assets under management due to
additional contributions (net of withdrawals) and appreciation of those
clients' assets. Fees were then reduced for expenses and taxes. The
after-tax profits were then multiplied by a percentage of acquired clients
expected to be retained in each year subsequent to the acquisition date to
determine the amount of after-tax profits attributable to the acquired
clients. These amounts were then discounted to their present value.
"The percentage of acquired clients expected to remain in each year after
the acquisition date was computed assuming an average life of 15 years or
an average annual loss percentage of 6.67% of the remaining balance. The
15 year life was based on a study the Company performed which compared the
number of our clients at the end of 1986 to the number of those 1986
clients who were still clients at the end of 1998. The results of the
study are consistent with amortization periods used by public companies in
the industry for similar assets." [quoted material excerpted from October
1, 1999 response letter to Staff]
With respect to NSMM, the Company had no preexisting direct contractual
relationships with the clients of NSMM. Therefore, the entire amount allocated
to intangibles was initially recorded as amortizable goodwill and later
reclassified as a client relationships intangible asset in conjunction with the
adoption of SFAS No. 141.
In respect of the Company's acquisition of TPR in 2001, the income
approach was used to value the intangible assets and overall business enterprise
value. In an income approach, value is dependent on the present value of future
economic benefits to be derived from ownership of the customer relationship
asset. Central to this method is an analysis of the earnings potential
represented by the appraised asset and of the underlying risks associated with
obtaining those earnings. Value indications were
<PAGE>
Ms. Joyce Sweeney
November 30, 2005
Page 5 of 5
developed by discounting future net cash flows available for distribution to
their present value at market-based rates of return.
TPR's management provided us with projections of sales and profitability
for the company as a whole based on internal data that covered the years 2001
through 2004. These projections were tested for reasonableness based on the
purchase price and required rates of return and then the forecasted earnings and
cash flow were utilized. Projected net debt-free cash flow was then calculated
by including the various cash inflows and outflows attributed to the business
operations of TPR. The Company's terminal values were estimated by utilizing a
long-term growth rate of 7%. Working capital requirements were assumed at 15% of
incremental revenues. The net present value of the future debt-free cash flows,
when discounted at the weighted average costs of capital or the discount rate of
15%, provided an indication of value. Useful life was determined in accordance
with the methodology described above for the other acquisitions.
For each of the FLII, TPRS, NSMM and TPR acquisitions, the Company
evaluates the remaining useful lives of these intangible assets annually to
determine whether events and circumstances warrant a revision to the remaining
periods of amortization. Since the time of such business acquisitions, the
Company has retained substantially all of the customers to which such assets
related upon acquisition. Through December 31, 2004, the actual cash flows
received from these acquired clients as well as the timing and amounts of the
forecasted revenue streams continue to support the estimated future cash flows
used to measure present value and evaluate the assets' recoverability over the
remainder of the original 15 and 20 year estimated useful lives.
If the Staff has any further questions or comments, please telephone the
undersigned at 212-750-8585.
Sincerely,
/s/ Susan G. Leber
Susan G. Leber
Deputy Managing Director - Chief
Financial Officer
cc: Nancy Maloney
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