Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Basis of Presentation

v2.4.0.6
Basis of Presentation
 9 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2012
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Basis of Presentation
Basis of Presentation
Description of Business
Westell Technologies, Inc. (the “Company”) is a holding company. Its wholly owned subsidiary, Westell, Inc., designs and distributes telecommunications products which are sold primarily to major telephone companies. Noran Tel, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Westell, Inc. On February 27, 2012, the Company approved a plan to relocate the majority of its Noran Tel operations to the Company’s location in Aurora, Illinois, with the intent to optimize operations (the “Noran Tel relocation”).  The planned relocation was completed during the second quarter of fiscal year 2013 and impacted approximately 35 employees located in Canada.  Noran Tel's remaining Canadian operations focus on power distribution product development and sales of Westell products in Canada.
Business Acquisition
On May 15, 2012, the Company acquired certain assets and liabilities of ANTONE Wireless Corporation (“ANTONE”), including rights to ANTONE products, for $2.5 million cash, subject to an adjustment for working capital, plus contingent cash consideration of up to an additional $3.5 million (the "ANTONE acquisition").  The contingent consideration is based upon profitability of the acquired products for post-closing periods through June 30, 2016 and may be offset by working capital adjustments and indemnification claims.  The acquisition included inventories, property and equipment, contract rights, customer relationships, technology, and certain specified operating liabilities that existed at the closing date. The Company hired nine of ANTONE’s employees.  ANTONE products include high-performance tower-mounted amplifiers, multi-carrier power amplifier boosters, and cell-site antenna sharing products.  The acquisition qualifies as a business combination and is accounted for using the acquisition method of accounting.
The results of ANTONE’s operations have been included in the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements since the date of acquisition and are reported in the Westell operating segment.
In accordance with the acquisition method of accounting for business combinations, the Company preliminarily allocated the total purchase price to identifiable tangible and intangible assets based on each element’s estimated fair value. The Company is in the process of determining the fair value of the intangible assets and the contingent consideration. The Company may adjust the preliminary purchase price allocation once the fair-value analysis is complete. Purchased intangibles will be amortized over their respective estimated useful lives. Goodwill recorded from this acquisition is the residual purchase price after allocating the total consideration to the preliminary fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed, and represents the expected synergies and other benefits from this acquisition that relate to the Company’s market position, customer relationships and supply chain capabilities. All goodwill recorded on the ANTONE acquisition is expected to be amortized and deductible for U.S. federal and state income tax purposes.
The following table summarized the preliminary estimated fair values of the assets and liabilities assumed on May 15, 2012, at the acquisition date:
(in thousands)
 
Inventories
$
326

Deposit
3

Intangibles
3,230

Liabilities
(612
)
Goodwill
2,061

Net assets acquired
$
5,008

Cash consideration transferred
$
2,524

Contingent consideration
3,038

Working capital adjustment (shortfall)
(554
)
Total preliminary consideration
$
5,008


The identifiable intangible assets include $2.8 million designated to technology and $0.4 million designated to customer relationships, each with estimated useful lives of eight years. The Company calculated values on a preliminary basis based on the present value of the future estimated cash flows derived from operations attributable to technology and existing customer contracts and relationships.

In the nine months ended December 31, 2012, the Company recorded a $303,000 warranty obligation for pre-acquisition sales made by ANTONE related to a specific product failure. See Note 7, Product Warranties. Pre-acquisition warranty costs in excess of $25,000 are indemnified by the seller and have been adjusted in the valuation of the contingent consideration. Refer to further discussion of the contingent consideration in Note 12, Fair Value Measurements.
Sale of Conference Plus, Inc.
On December 31, 2011, the Company sold its wholly owned subsidiary, Conference Plus, Inc., including Conference Plus Global Services, Ltd. (“CGPS”), a wholly owned subsidiary of ConferencePlus (collectively, “ConferencePlus”) to Arkadin, Inc. for $40.3 million in cash (the “ConferencePlus sale”). Of the total purchase price $4.1 million was placed in escrow at closing for one year as security for certain indemnity obligations of the Company. The Company subsequently agreed to extend the escrow period to February 28, 2013. During the three months ended December 31, 2012, the Company recorded a contingent liability of $1.5 million, pre-tax, relating to impending claims raised by Arkadin under the indemnity provisions of the purchase sales agreement. The Company expects the cash held in escrow that is in excess of the obligation covered by the indemnity provisions to be released during the quarter ending March 31, 2013. The escrow amount has been classified as Restricted cash on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2012 and March 31, 2012. The results of operations of ConferencePlus presented herein have been classified as discontinued operations. The Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows include discontinued operations.
ConferencePlus revenue and income before income taxes reported in discontinued operations is as follows:
 
(in thousands)
Three months ended December 31, 2012
 
Nine months ended December 31, 2012
 
Three months ended December 31, 2011
 
Nine months ended December 31, 2011
Revenue
$
—

 
$
—

 
$
10,072

 
$
31,732

Income (loss) before income taxes
$
(1,515
)
 
$
(1,515
)
 
$
563

 
$
3,594


CNS Asset Sale
On April 15, 2011, the Company sold certain assets and transferred certain liabilities of the Customer Networking Solutions (“CNS”) segment to NETGEAR, Inc. for $36.7 million in cash (the “CNS asset sale”). The Company retained a major CNS customer relationship and contract, and also retained the Homecloud product development program. The Company completed the remaining contractually required product shipments under the retained contract in December 2011.
During the nine months ended December 31, 2011, the Company recorded a pre-tax gain of $31.7 million on this asset sale. In connection with the CNS asset sale, the Company entered into a Master Services Agreement and an Irrevocable Site License Agreement under which the Company provided transition services and office space to NETGEAR. The site license expired in April 2012.
The pre-tax gain on the CNS asset sale for the nine months ended December 31, 2011 is calculated as follows:
Cash Proceeds
$
36,683

Less: Net value of assets and liabilities sold or transferred as of April 15, 2011
(5,029
)
Total CNS asset sale gain before income taxes
$
31,654


As part of the agreement, the Company agreed to indemnify NETGEAR following the closing of the sale against specified losses in connection with the CNS business and generally retain responsibility for various legal liabilities that may accrue. An escrow of $3.4 million was established for this purpose or for other claims and is reflected as Restricted cash on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet as of March 31, 2012. In the quarter ended September 30, 2012, $2.6 million of the escrow was released. During the quarter ended December 31, 2012, the remaining $0.7 million was used to settle the dispute discussed below.
In the three months ended December 31, 2012, the Company resolved, through arbitration, a dispute with NETGEAR regarding an interpretation of the Asset Purchase Agreement covering the CNS asset sale for $0.9 million.  The Company previously recorded a $0.4 million contingency reserve for this claim and recorded an additional expense of $0.5 million during the three months ended September 30, 2012.
Basis of Presentation and Reporting
The accompanying Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly owned subsidiaries. The Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared using accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”) for interim financial reporting, and consistent with the instructions of Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X, and accordingly they do not include all of the information and footnotes required in the annual consolidated financial statements and accompanying footnotes. The Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with the Consolidated Financial Statements and accompanying notes included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2012. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and that affect revenue and expenses during the period reported. Estimates are used when accounting for the allowance for uncollectible accounts receivable, excess and obsolete inventory, net realizable value of inventory, product warranty accrued, relative selling prices, stock-based compensation, goodwill and intangible asset fair value, depreciation, income taxes, contingent consideration and contingencies, among other things. These estimates are based on management’s best estimates and judgment. Management evaluates its estimates and assumptions on an ongoing basis using historical experience and other factors. The Company adjusts such estimates and assumptions when facts and circumstances dictate. Actual results could differ from those estimates. In addition, certain reclassification adjustments have been made to historical results to achieve consistency in presentation.
In the opinion of management, the unaudited interim financial statements included herein reflect all adjustments, consisting of normal recurring adjustments, necessary to present fairly the Company’s condensed consolidated financial position and the results of operations and cash flows at December 31, 2012 and for all periods presented. The results of operations for the periods presented are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for fiscal year 2013.
Update to Significant Accounting Policies
Short-term Investments
Certificates of deposit held for investment with an original maturity greater than 90 days are carried at cost and included in “short-term investments” on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. The certificates of deposit are not debt securities. The Company also invests in debt instruments consisting of pre-refunded municipal bonds. The income and principal from these pre-refunded bonds are secured by an irrevocable trust holding U.S. Treasury securities. The bonds have original maturities of greater than 90 days, but have remaining maturities of less than one year. The pre-refunded municipal bonds are classified as held-to-maturity and are carried at amortized cost.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
In July 2012, the FASB issued ASU No. 2012-02, Intangibles-Goodwill and Other (Topic350): Testing Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets for Impairment (“ASU 2012-02”). ASU 2012-02 provides entities with an option to first assess qualitative factors to determine whether events or circumstances indicate that it is more likely than not that the indefinite-lived intangible asset is impaired. If an entity concludes that it is more than 50% likely that an indefinite-lived intangible asset is not impaired, no further analysis is required. However, if an entity concludes otherwise, it would be required to determine the fair value of the indefinite-lived intangible asset to measure the amount of actual impairment, if any, as currently required under US GAAP. ASU 2012-02 is effective for fiscal years beginning after September 15, 2012. The adoption of this pronouncement is not expected to materially impact the Company’s financial condition or results of operations.