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The Separation and Basis of Presentation
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2021
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
The Separation and Basis of Presentation The Separation and Basis of Presentation
Arconic Corporation (“Arconic” or the “Company”) is a manufacturer of fabricated aluminum products, including sheet and plate, extrusions, and architectural products and systems, with a primary focus on the ground transportation, aerospace, building and construction, industrial products, and packaging end markets. The Company has 21 primary operating locations in 8 countries around the world, situated in the United States, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hungary, Russia, and the United Kingdom.
References in these Notes to (i) “ParentCo” refer to Arconic Inc., a Delaware corporation, and its consolidated subsidiaries (through March 31, 2020, at which time it was renamed Howmet Aerospace Inc.), and (ii) “2016 Separation Transaction” refer to the November 1, 2016 separation of Alcoa Inc., a Pennsylvania corporation, into two standalone, publicly-traded companies, Arconic Inc. and Alcoa Corporation.
Coronavirus. Our operations and financial results have been, and may continue to be, adversely affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, several of our automotive and aerospace customers temporarily suspended operations at different points throughout 2020. While many of our customers have resumed operations as it relates to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are unable to estimate with certainty at this time the status, frequency, or duration of any potential reoccurrences of customer shutdowns, or the duration or extent of resumed operations. Due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on our customers, we are experiencing, and expect to continue experiencing, lower demand and volume for our products. These trends may lead to charges, impairments, and other adverse financial impacts over time, including but not limited to the recoverability of goodwill and long-lived assets and the realizability of deferred tax assets. The impact on our business, results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, and/or cash flows will be magnified if the disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic continues for an extended period.
As a result, Arconic implemented several measures starting in April 2020 to mitigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company’s business, results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, and cash flows:
deferred initiating a dividend on common stock;
reduced the CEO’s salary and the Board of Directors’ cash compensation by 30% (see below);
reduced salaries for senior-level management by 20% and for all other salaried employees by 10% (see below);
restructuring of the salaried workforce, reduction of 10%;
idling of various production facilities based on market conditions within the regions where the Company operates;
decreasing production and operating with a reduced labor force through shortened work weeks, shift reductions, layoffs, and the elimination of temporary workers and contractors at U.S.-based rolling and extrusion facilities;
implementing a combination of modified schedules, adjusted work hours, lower costs, and/or delayed raises at all rolling mill facilities in Europe, China, and Russia;
suspended the 401(k) match program for U.S. salaried employees (see below); and
reducing capital expenditures by approximately $50, or approximately 30%.
Effective September 1, 2020, the Company restored both the salaries of all salaried employees and the 401(k) match of all salaried U.S. employees, including executive officers, to the levels in effect prior to the actions described above. Also effective September 1, 2020, the Company restored the annual cash retainers payable to the non-employee members of the Company’s Board of Directors to the levels in effect prior to the previous reduction described above.
The Separation.  On February 8, 2019, ParentCo announced that its Board of Directors approved a plan to separate into two standalone, publicly-traded companies (the “Separation”). The spin-off company, later named Arconic Corporation, was to include the rolled aluminum products, aluminum extrusions, and architectural products operations of ParentCo, as well as the Latin America extrusions operations sold in April 2018, (collectively, the “Arconic Corporation Businesses”). The existing publicly traded company, ParentCo, was to continue to own the engine products, engineered structures, fastening systems, and forged wheels operations (collectively, the “Howmet Aerospace Businesses”).
The Separation was subject to a number of conditions, including, but not limited to: final approval by ParentCo’s Board of Directors (see below); receipt of an opinion of legal counsel (received on March 31, 2020) regarding the qualification of the distribution, together with certain related transactions, as a “reorganization” within the meaning of Sections 335 and 368(a)(1)(D) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code (i.e., a transaction that is generally tax-free for U.S. federal income tax purposes); and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) declaring effective a Registration Statement on Form 10, as amended, filed with the SEC on February 13, 2020 (effectiveness was declared by the SEC on February 13, 2020).
On February 5, 2020, ParentCo’s Board of Directors approved the completion of the Separation by means of a pro rata distribution by ParentCo of all of the outstanding shares of common stock of Arconic to ParentCo common stockholders of record as of the close of business on March 19, 2020 (the “Record Date”). At the time of the Separation, ParentCo common stockholders were to receive one share of Arconic common stock for every four shares of ParentCo common stock (the “Separation Ratio”) held as of the Record Date (ParentCo common stockholders were to receive cash in lieu of fractional shares).
In connection with the Separation, as of March 31, 2020, Arconic and Howmet Aerospace entered into several agreements to implement the legal and structural separation between the two companies; govern the relationship between Arconic and Howmet Aerospace after the completion of the Separation; and allocate between Arconic and Howmet Aerospace various assets, liabilities, and obligations, including, among other things, employee benefits, environmental liabilities, intellectual property, and tax-related assets and liabilities. These agreements included a Separation and Distribution Agreement, Tax Matters Agreement, Employee Matters Agreement, and certain Patent, Know-How, Trade Secret License and Trademark License Agreements. The Separation and Distribution Agreement identified the assets to be transferred, the liabilities to be assumed, and the contracts to be transferred to each of Arconic and Howmet Aerospace as part of the Separation, and provided for when and how these transfers and assumptions were to occur.
On April 1, 2020 (the “Separation Date”), the Separation was completed and became effective at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. To effect the Separation, ParentCo undertook a series of transactions to separate the net assets and certain legal entities of ParentCo, resulting in a cash payment of $728 to ParentCo by Arconic from a portion of the aggregate net proceeds of previously executed financing arrangements (see Note Q). In connection with the Separation, 109,021,376 shares of Arconic common stock were distributed to ParentCo stockholders. This was determined by applying the Separation Ratio to the 436,085,504 shares of ParentCo’s outstanding common stock as of the Record Date. “Regular-way” trading of Arconic’s common stock began with the opening of the New York Stock Exchange on April 1, 2020 under the ticker symbol “ARNC.” Arconic’s common stock has a par value of $0.01 per share.
ParentCo incurred costs to evaluate, plan, and execute the Separation, and Arconic was allocated a pro rata portion of these costs based on segment revenue (see Cost Allocations below). ParentCo recognized $38 from January 2020 through March 2020 and $78 in 2019 for such costs, of which $18 and $40, respectively, was allocated to Arconic. The allocated amounts were included in Selling, general administrative, and other expenses on the accompanying Statement of Consolidated Operations.
Basis of Presentation.   The Consolidated Financial Statements of Arconic are prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (GAAP). In accordance with GAAP, certain situations require management to make estimates based on judgments and assumptions, which may affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements. They also may affect the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting periods. Actual results could differ from those estimates upon subsequent resolution of identified matters. These estimates are based on historical experience and, in some cases, assumptions based on current and future market experience, including considerations related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Management has made its best estimates using all relevant information available at the time, but it is possible that these estimates will differ from actual results and affect the Consolidated Financial Statements in future periods and potentially require adverse adjustments to the recoverability of goodwill and long-lived assets, the realizability of deferred tax assets and other judgments and estimations and assumptions that may be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Principles of Consolidation.   The Consolidated Financial Statements of Arconic include the accounts of Arconic and companies in which Arconic has a controlling interest. Intercompany transactions have been eliminated.
Management evaluates whether an Arconic entity or interest is a variable interest entity and whether Arconic is the primary beneficiary. Consolidation is required if both of these criteria are met. Arconic does not have any variable interest entities requiring consolidation.
Prior to the Separation Date, Arconic did not operate as a separate, standalone entity. Arconic’s operations were included in ParentCo’s financial results. Accordingly, for all periods prior to the Separation Date, the accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements were prepared from ParentCo’s historical accounting records and were presented on a standalone basis as if the Arconic Corporation Businesses had been conducted independently from ParentCo. Such Consolidated Financial Statements include the historical operations that were considered to comprise the Arconic Corporation Businesses, as well as certain assets and liabilities that were historically held at ParentCo’s corporate level but were specifically identifiable or otherwise attributable to Arconic. ParentCo’s net investment in these operations was reflected as Parent Company net investment on the accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements. All significant transactions and accounts within Arconic were eliminated. All significant intercompany transactions between ParentCo and Arconic were included within Parent Company net investment on the accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements.
Cost Allocations.   The description and information on cost allocations is applicable for all periods included in the Consolidated Financial Statements prior to the Separation Date.
The Consolidated Financial Statements of Arconic include general corporate expenses of ParentCo that were not historically charged to the Arconic Corporation Businesses for certain support functions that were provided on a centralized basis, such as expenses related to finance, audit, legal, information technology, human resources, communications, compliance, facilities, employee benefits and compensation, and research and development activities. These general corporate expenses were included on the accompanying Statement of Consolidated Operations within Cost of goods sold, Selling, general administrative and other expenses, and Research and development expenses. These expenses were allocated to Arconic on the basis of direct usage when identifiable, with the remainder allocated based on the Arconic Corporation Businesses’ segment revenue as a percentage of ParentCo’s total segment revenue, as reported in the respective periods.
All external debt not directly attributable to Arconic was excluded from the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheet. Financing costs related to these debt obligations were allocated to Arconic based on the ratio of capital invested by ParentCo in the Arconic Corporation Businesses to the total capital invested by ParentCo in both the Arconic Corporation Businesses and the Howmet Aerospace Businesses, and were included on the accompanying Statement of Consolidated Operations within Interest expense.
The following table reflects the allocations described above:
20202019
Cost of goods sold(1)
$— $14 
Selling, general administrative, and other expenses(2)
25 115 
Research and development expenses— 11 
Provision for depreciation and amortization10 
Restructuring and other charges (E)
Interest expense (F)
28 115 
Other (income), net
(5)(6)
_________________
(1)For all periods presented, amount principally relates to an allocation of expenses for ParentCo’s retained pension and other postretirement benefit obligations associated with closed and sold operations.
(2)In 2020 (January through March) and 2019, amount includes an allocation of $18 and $40, respectively, for costs incurred by ParentCo associated with the Separation (see above).
Management believes the assumptions regarding the allocation of ParentCo’s general corporate expenses and financing costs were reasonable.
Nevertheless, the Consolidated Financial Statements of Arconic may not include all of the actual expenses that would have been incurred and may not reflect Arconic’s consolidated results of operations, financial position, and cash flows had it been a standalone company during the periods prior to the Separation Date. Actual costs that would have been incurred if Arconic had been a standalone company would depend on multiple factors, including organizational structure, capital structure, and strategic decisions made in various areas, including information technology and infrastructure. Transactions between Arconic and ParentCo, including sales to the Howmet Aerospace Businesses, were presented as related party transactions in these Consolidated Financial Statements and were considered to be effectively settled for cash at the time the transaction was recorded. The total net effect of the settlement of these transactions was reflected on the accompanying Statement of Consolidated Cash Flows as a financing activity and on the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheet as Parent Company net investment.
Cash Management.   The description and information on cash management is applicable for all periods included in the Consolidated Financial Statements prior to the Separation Date.
Cash was managed centrally with certain net earnings reinvested locally and working capital requirements met from existing liquid funds. Accordingly, the cash and cash equivalents held by ParentCo at the corporate level were not attributed to Arconic for any of the periods presented prior to the Separation Date. Only cash amounts specifically attributable to Arconic were reflected in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheet. Transfers of cash, both to and from ParentCo’s centralized cash management system, were reflected as a component of Parent Company net investment on the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheet and as a financing activity on the accompanying Statement of Consolidated Cash Flows.
ParentCo had an arrangement with several financial institutions to sell certain customer receivables without recourse on a revolving basis. The sale of such receivables was completed through the use of a bankruptcy-remote special-purpose entity, which was a consolidated subsidiary of ParentCo. In connection with this arrangement, in all periods prior to January 1, 2020, certain of Arconic’s customer receivables were sold on a revolving basis to this bankruptcy-remote subsidiary of ParentCo; these sales were reflected as a component of Parent Company net investment on Arconic’s Consolidated Balance Sheet. As of December 31, 2019, the amount of Arconic’s outstanding customer receivables sold to ParentCo’s subsidiary was $281. Effective January 2, 2020, in preparation for the Separation, ParentCo’s arrangement was amended to no longer include customer receivables associated with the Arconic Corporation Businesses, as well as to remove previously included customer receivables related to the Arconic Corporation Businesses not yet collected as of January 2, 2020. Accordingly, uncollected customer receivables of $281 related to the Arconic Corporation Businesses were removed from the program and the right to collect and receive the cash from the customer was returned to Arconic.
ParentCo participated in several accounts payable settlement arrangements with certain vendors and third-party intermediaries. These arrangements provided that, at the vendor’s request, the third-party intermediary advance the amount of the scheduled payment to the vendor, less an appropriate discount, before the scheduled payment date and ParentCo make payment to the third-party intermediary on the date stipulated in accordance with the commercial terms negotiated with its vendors. In connection with these arrangements, certain of Arconic’s accounts payable were settled, at the vendor’s request, before the scheduled payment date; these settlements were reflected as a component of Parent Company net investment on Arconic’s Consolidated Balance Sheet. As of December 31, 2019, the amount of Arconic’s accounts payables settled under such arrangements that had yet to be extinguished between ParentCo and third-party intermediaries was $1.