Negative Goodwill (NGW)

In business, negative goodwill (NGW) is a term that refers to the bargain purchase amount of money paid, when a company acquires another company or its assets for significantly less their fair market values. Negative goodwill generally indicates that the selling party is distressed or has declared bankruptcy, and faces no other option but to unload its assets for a fraction of their worth. Consequently, negative goodwill nearly always favors the buyer. Negative goodwill is the opposite of goodwill, where one company pays a premium for another company’s assets.