Goodwill is never valued directly. It falls out of the acquisition once everything identifiable has been recognized and measured.
Those are the reasons an acquirer paid more, but none is measured and recognized on its own. Goodwill is the leftover, not an appraisal.
The comparison is against the fair value of identifiable net assets, not against book value, and it starts from what the acquirer actually transferred.
Goodwill is recognized only in a business combination. A company cannot record goodwill for its own operations.
Answer: a
Choice a. Goodwill is a residual, so identifying and measuring everything else comes first.