What is Non-Controlling Interest?

Generally, in the case of publicly traded companies, most shareholders are minority shareholders, and only promoters could be categorized as majority or controlling shareholders. In the case of consolidation of accounts, the amount attributable to the minority, based on net assets value, is shown separately as a Non-controlling interest in the Balance Sheet reserves and a surplus of the entity.

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Non-Controlling Interest Types

There are two types – Direct and Indirect.

#1 – Direct

It is one where the minority shareholdersMinority ShareholdersMinority interest is the investors’ stakeholding that is less than 50% of the existing shares or the voting rights in the company. The minority shareholders do not have control over the company through their voting rights, thereby having a meagre role in the corporate decision-making.read more get their share in the recorded equity of the subsidiary companySubsidiary CompanyA subsidiary company is controlled by another company, better known as a parent or holding company. The control is exerted through ownership of more than 50% of the voting stock of the subsidiary. Subsidiaries are either set up or acquired by the controlling company.read more. All recorded equity here means both pre and post acquisitions amounts.

For Example:

Company B has reserved as on 31.03.2018, aggregating to $ 550,000. On 01.04.2018, Mr. X bought 10% shares of company B. Since it is a case of Direct Non-controlling interest, Mr. X would be entitled to 10% of pre-existing/past profits of Company B, in addition to the future profits accruing post 01.04.2018.

#2 – Indirect

It is one where the minority shareholders receive a proportionate allocation of post-acquisition profits only, i.e., he would not receive a share in the pre-existing profits of the company.

For Example:

Company A holds 20% shares in Company B, and Company A also acquired 60% shares of Company P, which holds 70% of the shares of Company B. Thus, the shareholding of Company P and Company B would look as under, post-acquisition:

Company P:

  • Shares held by Company A: 60%Direct Non-controlling interest: 40%

Company B:

  • Shares held by Company A: 62%Direct Non-controlling interest: 40%

Indirect Non-controlling interest: It is calculated using the direct interest on the Balance Sheet of P ltd, i.e., 40% * 70% = 28%

Accounting for Non-controlling interest on the Balance Sheet

Accounting for minority interest comes into picture while consolidation of books of accounts by the holding companyHolding CompanyA holding company is a company that owns the majority voting shares of another company (subsidiary company). This company also generally controls the management of that company, as well as directs the subsidiary’s directions and policies.read more. Consolidation refers to the process by which financial statements of two or more companies are combined to form one set of financials.

Consolidation applies when an entity holds the majority stake in another entity, known as the subsidiary entity. As Consolidation combines two or more sets of financial statements, it allows the stakeholders, such as investors, creditors, lenders, etc., to view the combined financial statements of all three entities as if they were one entity.

While consolidating the financial statementsConsolidating The Financial StatementsConsolidated Financial Statements are the financial statements of the overall group, which include all three key financial statements – income statement, cash flow statement, and balance sheet – and represent the sum total of its parents and all of its subsidiaries.read more of the subsidiary company with the holding company, the net assets value of the shares held by the minority shareholders is recognized as a Minority interest in the reserves and surplus in the consolidated financial statements.

Example #1

Company L acquired 85% of the shares outstandingShares OutstandingOutstanding shares are the stocks available with the company’s shareholders at a given point of time after excluding the shares that the entity had repurchased. It is shown as a part of the owner’s equity in the liability side of the company’s balance sheet.read more of Company M. Thus, the remaining shares held by minority shareholders were 15%. At the end of the year, Company M reported revenues of $ 500,000 and expenses of $ 300,000, whereas Company L reported revenues of $ 1,000,000 and expenses of $ 400,000.

Net income of Company L and M can be computed as under:

Allocation of net income of Company M, between controlling and non-controlling interest, is as under:

Consolidated net income can be computed as under:

Example #2

The following extract is from the Financial statements of Nestle for the year ended 31st December 2018, which shows the profit is attributed to the non-controlling interest and shareholders of the parent:

Following is the extract of the consolidated balance sheet of Nestle, which shows the amount attributable to Non-controlling interest:

Source: www.nestle.com

It thus represents the amount attributable to shareholders who are not the company’s significant shareholders and have no authority of decision-making in the company. The amounts attributable to NCI are shown separately in the consolidated financial statements, as it is the amount that doesn’t belong to the parent entity and is attributable to minority shareholders.

This article is a guide to What is Non-Controlling Interest and its Definition. Here we discuss the two types of non-controlling interest on the balance sheet and its accounting while consolidating the books with examples. You can learn more about accounting from the following articles –

  • Return on Net AssetsControlling Interest ExampleWhat is Class A Shares?Nominal Value of Shares