<SEC-DOCUMENT>0001104659-12-054124.txt : 20120917
<SEC-HEADER>0001104659-12-054124.hdr.sgml : 20120917
<ACCEPTANCE-DATETIME>20120803152218
<PRIVATE-TO-PUBLIC>
ACCESSION NUMBER:		0001104659-12-054124
CONFORMED SUBMISSION TYPE:	CORRESP
PUBLIC DOCUMENT COUNT:		1
FILED AS OF DATE:		20120803

FILER:

	COMPANY DATA:	
		COMPANY CONFORMED NAME:			SIMPSON MANUFACTURING CO INC /CA/
		CENTRAL INDEX KEY:			0000920371
		STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION:	CUTLERY, HANDTOOLS & GENERAL HARDWARE [3420]
		IRS NUMBER:				943196943
		STATE OF INCORPORATION:			DE
		FISCAL YEAR END:			1231

	FILING VALUES:
		FORM TYPE:		CORRESP

	BUSINESS ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		5956 W LAS POSITAS BLVD
		CITY:			PLEASANTON
		STATE:			CA
		ZIP:			94588
		BUSINESS PHONE:		9255609000

	MAIL ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		5956 W LAS POSITAS BLVD
		CITY:			PLEASANTON
		STATE:			CA
		ZIP:			94588
</SEC-HEADER>
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<TYPE>CORRESP
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<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt 4.0in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Simpson Manufacturing Co.,&nbsp;Inc.</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt 4.0in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">5956 W. Las Positas Blvd.</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt 4.0in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Pleasanton, CA&#160; 94588</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-indent:46.0pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt 4.0in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">August&nbsp;3, 2012</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Mr.&nbsp;Rufus Decker</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Accounting Branch Chief</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Division of Corporation Finance</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">United States Securities and Exchange Commission</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">100 F Street, N.E.</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Mail Stop 4631</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Washington, DC&#160; 20549</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Re:</font><font size="1" style="font-size:3.0pt;">&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; </font><font size="2" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Simpson Manufacturing Co.,&nbsp;Inc.</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-indent:27.35pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Form&nbsp;10-K for Fiscal Year Ended December&nbsp;31, 2011 (filed February&nbsp;28, 2012)</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-indent:27.35pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Form&nbsp;10-Q for the fiscal Quarter Ended March&nbsp;31, 2012 (filed May&nbsp;8, 2012)</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-indent:27.35pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">File No.&nbsp;001-13429</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Dear Mr.&nbsp;Decker:</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Thank you for your follow-up comments in your letter of July&nbsp;24, 2012.&#160; Your comments are quoted below, followed by our responses.</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><u><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Form&nbsp;10-K for the Year Ended December&nbsp;31, 2011</font></u></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><u><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Item 7. Management&#146;s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, Page&nbsp;26</font></u></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><u><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates, page&nbsp;32</font></u></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><u><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Goodwill Impairment Testing, page&nbsp;33</font></u></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt .25in;text-indent:-.25in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">1.</font><font size="1" style="font-size:3.0pt;">&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; </font><font size="2" style="font-size:10.0pt;">We note your response to comment two from our letter dated June&nbsp;26, 2012. Please clarify for us whether you historically considered Canada to be a separate reporting unit for your goodwill impairment testing during the periods presented in your filing. If not, please tell us how your goodwill impairment testing results would have differed for the periods presented if Canada were considered a separate reporting unit as of each testing date. Please also confirm that you will revise your future filings to better clarify how you determined your reporting units for goodwill testing purposes and the factors you considered in aggregating your U.S. Components into a single reporting unit.</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt .25in;text-indent:-.25in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-indent:.5in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Response</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt .5in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">We have historically considered Canada to be a separate reporting unit for our goodwill impairment testing during the periods presented in our filing.&#160; For example, the Company disclosed in 2007 that Canadian goodwill was impaired.</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt .5in;text-indent:-.5in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt .5in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">We will revise our future filings to better clarify how reporting units are determined for goodwill testing and the factors considered in aggregating the US Components. In future filings the following paragraph will be included in Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates under the Goodwill Impairment Testing section:</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt .5in;text-indent:-.5in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt 67.5pt;text-indent:.5pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">The Company tests goodwill for impairment at the reporting unit level on an annual basis (in the fourth quarter for the Company). The reporting unit level is generally one level below the operating segment, which is at the country level. The United States is an exception, where we determined the</font><font size="2" style="font-size:10.0pt;"> US reporting unit includes four components: Northwest US, Southwest US, Northeast US and Southwest US (collectively the &#147;US Components&#148;). We aggregate the US Components into a single reporting unit because we concluded that they are economically similar and that the goodwill is recoverable from the US Components working in concert. The US Components are economically similar because of a number of factors, including, but not limited to, selling similar products to the shared customers and shared assets and services such as intellectual property, manufacturing assets for certain products, research and development projects, manufacturing processes, management of inventory excesses and shortages and administrative services. These activities are managed centrally at the US Components level and costs are allocated among the four US Components.</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt 67.5pt;text-indent:-31.5pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">We acknowledge that:</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt .5in;text-indent:-.25in;"><font size="2" face="Symbol" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&#183;</font><font size="1" style="font-size:3.0pt;">&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; </font><font size="2" style="font-size:10.0pt;">the Company is responsible for the adequacy and accuracy of the disclosure in the Company&#146;s filings,</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt .5in;text-indent:-.25in;"><font size="2" face="Symbol" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&#183;</font><font size="1" style="font-size:3.0pt;">&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; </font><font size="2" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Securities and Exchange Commission (the &#147;Commission&#148;) staff comments or changes to disclosure in response to staff comments do not foreclose the Commission from taking any action with respect to the Company&#146;s filing, and</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt .5in;text-indent:-.25in;"><font size="2" face="Symbol" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&#183;</font><font size="1" style="font-size:3.0pt;">&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; </font><font size="2" style="font-size:10.0pt;">the Company may not assert the Commission staff comments as a defense in any proceeding initiated by the Commission or any person under federal securities laws of the United States.</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt .5in;text-indent:-.25in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Please let us know whether or not you have any further comments or questions. You may call me at (925) 560-9216 or Jeff Mackenzie at (925) 560-9016.</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Sincerely,</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
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<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">/s/ Brian Magstadt</font></p>    </td>
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<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>    </td>   </tr>
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<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Brian Magstadt</font></p>    </td>
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<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Chief Financial Officer</font></p>    </td>
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<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>    </td>   </tr>  </table>
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