Our method for calculating these measures may differ from those used by other companies and therefore comparability may be limited.
an incremental US tax expense of $9 million recorded after the taking into account the impact of adjustments to the valuation allowance placed against US deferred tax assets, US costs of $16 million associated with the Expense Reduction Initiative, and US costs of $61 million associated with the extinguishment of debt;
Our long-term liquidity requirements consist of the repayment of the principal amount of outstanding notes; borrowings under our 7-year term loan; and funding defined benefit pension plans as discussed below.
As of December 31, 2014, we had cash and cash equivalents of $635 million, compared with $796 million at December 31, 2013. Additionally, $1,222 million was available to draw under our revolving credit facilities at December 31, 2014, compared with $822 million at December 31, 2013.
Western Europe reported mid single-digit growth driven by Iberia, Germany and Ireland.
Latin America reported double-digit growth arising primarily from Brazil and Venezuela which was partially offset by a double-digit decline in Colombia.
We recorded a $13 million and an $8 million net periodic benefit income on our UK and US defined benefit pension schemes respectively in 2014, compared with a net periodic benefit income of $5 million on the UK scheme and a net periodic benefit income of $4 million on the US scheme in 2013. On our international defined benefit pension plans, US non-qualified plan and UK unfunded plan, we recorded a net periodic benefit cost of $4 million in 2014, compared with $5 million in 2013.
We recognize deferred tax assets and liabilities for the estimated future tax consequences of events attributable to differences between the financial statements carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases and operating and capital loss and tax credit carry-forwards. We estimate deferred tax assets and liabilities and assess the need for any valuation allowances using tax rates in effect for the year in which the differences are expected to be recovered or settled taking into account our business plans and tax planning strategies.
Information regarding guarantees and other contractual obligations and their impact on the financial statements is set forth in Note 20 - ‘Commitments and Contingencies’ to the Consolidated Financial Statements appearing under Part II, Item 8 of this report and incorporated herein by reference.
Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive (Loss) Income for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2014
Consolidated Statements of Equity for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2014
Fees for risk management and other services are recognized as the services are provided. Consideration for negotiated fee arrangements for an agreed period covering multiple insurance placements, the provision of risk management and/or other services are allocated to all deliverables on the basis of their relative selling prices. The Company establishes contract cancellation reserves where appropriate: at December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012, such amounts were not material.
A summary of option activity under the plans at December 31, 2014, and changes during the year then ended is presented below:
In relation to the acquisition of Prime Professions, the Company recognized acquired intangible assets of $17 million of which $16 million was in respect of client relationships, which are being amortized over an expected life of 15 years. The remaining intangible assets relate to non-compete agreements and the Prime trade name which are being amortized over 8 years and 3 years, respectively.
The UK plan’s real estate investment comprises UK property and infrastructure investments which are valued by the fund manager taking into account cost, independent appraisals and market based comparable data. The UK plan’s hedge fund investments are primarily invested in various ‘fund of funds’ and are valued based on net asset values calculated by the fund and are not publicly available. Liquidity is typically monthly and is subject to liquidity of the underlying funds. The UK plan’s Other Government Bonds investments are primarily invested in investment-grade emerging and developed market government bonds. Funds are valued on a net asset value basis, with the underlying bond instruments being valued using bid-side, clean pricing from approved pricing vendors. Prices are not publicly available.
The following table summarizes the changes in the UK pension plan’s Level 3 assets for the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2013:
In addition to the Company’s UK and US defined benefit pension plans, the Company has several smaller defined benefit pension plans in certain other countries in which it operates together with a non-qualified defined benefit pension plan in the United States and an unfunded defined benefit pension plan in the United Kingdom.
The following tables present, at December 31, 2014 and 2013, for each of the fair value hierarchy levels, the Company’s other defined benefit pension plan assets that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis.
The material actual or potential claims, lawsuits, and other proceedings, of which the Company is currently aware, are as follows:
30. FINANCIAL INFORMATION FOR ISSUER, PARENT GUARANTOR, OTHER GUARANTOR SUBSIDIARIES AND NON-GUARANTOR SUBSIDIARIES (Continued)