Annual Report 2010 - Knorr-Bremse AG.

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 139
The following companies are also newly established or included in consolidation for the first time:
Knorr-Bremse Rail Systems (Machining) Ltd., Melksham, Wiltshire/Great Britain
Knorr-Bremse SA Holding Company (UK) Ltd., Melksham, Wiltshire/Great Britain
Merak Knorr Climatizacion S.A., Buenos Aires/Argentina
The following companies have been renamed:
Knorr-Bremse IT-Services GmbH, Munich/Germany (formerly KB Delta Beteiligungs
GmbH, Munich/Germany)
Knorr-Bremse Rail Systems Italia S.r.l., Campi Bisenzio/Italy (formerly Frensistemi S.r.l.,
Florence/Italy)
The following companies have been merged or wound up:
Hasse & Wrede North America Inc., North Aurora, IL/USA
Di-Pro Inc., Fresno, California/USA
This means that compared to the previous year, the number of companies included in consolidation
has increased by one German and seven foreign companies. On the following pages, a detailed list of
affiliated and associated companies appears in a separate breakdown of the Group’s shareholdings.
The above-mentioned changes in the scope of consolidation had no significant impact on the Group’s
net assets, financial position and operating results. The newly consolidated companies caused the
balance sheet total to increase by MEUR 46.9.
Principles of consolidation
Until December 31, 2009, the book value method was used to consolidate investments in subsidiaries.
This entailed offsetting book values against the value of our interests in the shareholders’ equity of the
subsidiaries at the time of the initial consolidation. Companies were included in consolidation at the
date of acquisition or at the balance sheet date. Since fiscal year 2010, investments in subsidiaries have
been consolidated using the revaluation method. This entails reporting shareholders’ equity at the
value corresponding to the market value of the assets and borrowings to be included in the consolidated
financial statements. Companies are included in consolidation at the date of acquisition. Since
2002, any resulting goodwill has been capitalized in compliance with GAS standards. Scheduled depreciation
is applied on the basis of operational considerations relating to useful life, which may not
exceed 20 years in the Group. The useful life of goodwill is determined using the subsidiaries’ longerterm,
strategic business models.
Wherever possible, a negative goodwill resulting from the consolidation in investments is released for
the year in which it arises, as permitted by German commercial law and accounting standards.