luda002

It could be 0 but you can't have a negative amount on your balance sheet.

Under Acquisition Method, assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses are combined. Equity of the sub is ignored. So if if the Parent owns 80% of a subsidiary, Parent's balance sheet's post-acqusition would be:

Assets = Original Parent Assets + 80% x Sub Assets

Liabilities = Original Parent Liability + 80% x Sub Liabilities
Equity = Original Parent Equity + Minority Interest

MI = 20% x Sub's Original Equity

To get a better sense, look at any of your examples of Acqusition Method. The net change in the Parents Assets - Parents Liabilities MUST equal Minority Interest (since parent's original equity remains same)