SEC Company Response from CENTURY ALUMINUM CO (CENX) (CIK 0000949157) (CENX) — Apr 25, 2007
CENTURY ALUMINUM CO (CENX) (CIK 0000949157)
Date: April 25, 2007 · CIK: 0000949157 · Accession: 0000949157-07-000020
AI Filing Summary & Sentiment
Referenced dates: April 12, 2007
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Century Aluminum Company Form 10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2006
Comment Letter
Curtis,
Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle llp
Attorneys
and Counselors at Law
101
Park Avenue
New
York, New York 10178-0061
Frankfurt
Muscat
Telephone
212-696-6000
Houston
Paris
Facsimile
212-697-1559
London
Stamford
E-Mail
info@cm-p.com
Mexico
City
Washington,
D.C.
Internet
www.cm-p.com
Milan
April
25,
2007
VIA
EDGAR AND FACSIMILE
Division
of Corporation Finance
U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission
100
F
Street, N.E.
Washington,
D.C. 20549
Attention: Mr.
Karl
Hiller, Branch Chief
Re: Century
Aluminum Company
Form
10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2006
Filed
March 1, 2007
File
No. 0-27918
Ladies
and Gentlemen:
On
behalf
of Century Aluminum Company, a Delaware company (the “Company”),
we
are providing this letter in response to the comments raised in the letter
dated
April 12, 2007 (the “Comment
Letter”)
from
the staff (the “Staff”)
of the
Securities and Exchange Commission to Mr. Michael A. Bless, Chief Financial
Officer of the Company. Set forth below are the Company's responses to the
Staff's comments. To facilitate your review, each Staff comment, as set forth
in
the Comment Letter, is reprinted in italics, numbered to correspond with the
paragraph numbers assigned in the Comment Letter, and is followed by the
corresponding response from the Company.
Form
10-K for the Year Ended December 31, 2006
Management’s
Discussion and Analysis, page 19
Liquidity
and Capital Resources, page 29
1.
We
note that you disclose an adjusted working capital measure as of
December
31, 2006 and 2005. As this is a non-GAAP measure, please provide
the
disclosures required under Item 10(e)(1)(i)(A), (C) and (D) of Regulation
S-K, addressing the reasons for the change in the corresponding GAAP-based
measure disclosed, also setting forth the reasons you believe the
measure
is meaningful and explaining how the measure is utilized.
curtis, mallet-prevost, colt & mosle
llp
Mr.
Karl Hiller
Attorneys
and
Counselors at Law
U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission
April
25, 2007
Page
2
Response:
The
Company advises the Staff that in future filings, we will not disclose the
“adjusted working capital” measure.
Financial
Statements
Note
1
- Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, page 45
2.
We
note your subsidiary Nordural ehf derives substantially all of its
revenues from tolling arrangements. Please clarify in your accounting
policy disclosure how you account for the tolling contracts. Please
also
expand your disclosure sufficiently to explain how the physical conveyance
of product or rendering of service for each of your revenue generating
activities corresponds to the timing of recognition established in
meeting
the criteria set forth in SAB Topic 13.A.I.
Response:
The
Company advises the Staff that, in future filings, we will expand the disclosure
of our revenue recognition policies presented under Note 1 (“Summary of
Significant Accounting Policies”) to our Audited Financial Statements to read as
follows:
Revenue
— The
Company recognizes revenue from the sale of primary aluminum and from tolling
fees which the Company earns from smelting alumina supplied by customers.
Revenue
from the sale of primary aluminum is recognized when title, ownership and risk
of loss pass to the customer in accordance with contract terms, the price to
the
customer is fixed or determinable and collectibility is reasonably assured.
In
some instances, we invoice our customers prior to physical shipment of goods.
In
such instances, revenue is recognized only when the customer has specifically
requested such treatment and has made a fixed commitment to purchase the
product. The goods must be complete, ready for shipment and physically separated
from other inventory with risk of ownership passing to the customer. We must
retain no performance obligations and a delivery schedule must be obtained.
Sales returns and allowances are treated as a reduction of sales and are
provided for based on historical experience and current estimates.
The
Company recognizes revenue from its alumina toll conversion operations when
the
toll conversion process is complete in accordance with contract terms (i.e.,
when the customer’s alumina has been converted to aluminum, cast, palletized and
weighed for shipment to the customer), the price to the customer is fixed or
determinable and collectibility is reasonably assured.
3.
We
note your disclosure on page 46, concerning goodwill and intangible
assets, stating that in April 2005, you capitalized a $7 million
“post-closing payment” related to the acquisition of Hawesville, which you
acquired in April 2001. The guidance in SFAS 141, paragraph 40, generally
limits adjustments to the purchase price for pre-acquisition contingencies
to the “allocation period,” which usually does not exceed one year from
the consummation of a business combination, using the definition
in
Appendix F. Please tell us why you believe this guidance does not
apply to
you, under the circumstances.
curtis, mallet-prevost, colt & mosle
llp
Mr.
Karl Hiller
Attorneys
and
Counselors at Law
U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission
April
25, 2007
Page
3
Response:
The
Company advises the Staff that the $7 million payment was not to settle a
pre-acquisition contingency as defined in Appendix F of SFAS 141, as the
contingency did not exist before our acquisition of Hawesville. Rather, the
post-closing payment was required to be made under the Hawesville acquisition
agreement if the LME price for primary aluminum exceeded specified levels during
any of the seven years following closing and is contingent consideration as
defined by APB 16 paragraph 77 (or SFAS 141 paragraph 25).
The
Hawesville acquisition was completed in April 2001 prior to the issuance of
SFAS 141. We followed the guidance in APB 16 in accounting for the business
combination. Given the nature of the contingency, the Company applied the
guidance from APB 16 paragraphs 79 and 80, which state:
“Contingent
consideration should usually be recorded when the contingency is resolved and
consideration is issued or becomes issuable. In general, the issue of
additional securities or distribution of other consideration at resolution
of
contingencies based on earnings should result in an additional element of cost
of an acquired company.
Additional
consideration may be contingent on maintaining or achieving specified earnings
levels in future periods. When the contingency is resolved and additional
consideration is distributable, the acquiring corporation should record the
current fair value of the consideration issued or issuable as additional cost
of
the acquired company.”
Accordingly,
the Company did not record a liability at the time of the acquisition. The
Company disclosed the possibility of the post-closing payments, and its maximum
potential, in subsequent filings.
In
the
period April 2004 to March 2005, the LME price for primary aluminum was high
enough to trigger a payment of $7 million.
By
the
time of the payment, SFAS 141 had replaced APB 16 as the appropriate
guidance. Because the payment was triggered by high LME prices, which have
a
direct relationship to the earnings of Hawesville, the guidance in paragraph
28
of SFAS 141 was followed. This paragraph states that for contingencies based
on
earnings that:
“Additional
consideration may be contingent on maintaining or achieving specified earnings
levels in future periods. When the contingency is resolved and additional
consideration is distributable, the acquiring entity shall record the fair
value
of the consideration issued or issuable as an additional cost of the acquired
entity.”
Consistent
with this guidance, the Company increased the cost of the acquired
asset.
curtis, mallet-prevost, colt & mosle
llp
Mr.
Karl Hiller
Attorneys
and
Counselors at Law
U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission
April
25, 2007
Page
4
Note
19 - Condensed Consolidating Financial Information, page 72
4.
Please
advise us as to whether you are able to make the representation and
disclosures required under Rule 3-10(i)(8) of Regulation S-X, as
would
generally be required to qualify for the exception to the general
rule set
forth in paragraph (a)(1).
Response:
The
Company advises the Staff that (i) each subsidiary guarantor is 100% owned
by
the Company, (ii) all guarantees are full and unconditional, and (iii) all
guarantees are joint and several. The Company further advises the Staff that
it
will include the disclosures required under Rule 3-10(i)(8) of Regulation S-X
in
future filings.
In
connection with responding to the Staff's comments, the Company acknowledges
that:
·
the
Company is responsible for the adequacy and accuracy of the disclosure
in
the filing;
·
Staff
comments or changes to disclosure in response to Staff comments do
not
foreclose the Commission from taking any action with respect to the
filing; and
·
the
Company may not assert Staff comments as a defense in any proceeding
initiated by the Commission or any person under the federal securities
laws of the United States.
Should
you have any questions or comments relating to this letter, kindly contact
the
undersigned at 212-696-6918.
Very
truly yours,
/s/
Jeffrey N. Ostrager
Jeffrey
N. Ostrager
cc:
Nasreen Mohammed
Michael
A. Bless, Century Aluminum Company