GOODWILL AND OTHER INTANGIBLE ASSETS

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

GOODWILL AND OTHER INTANGIBLES [Abstract]

The balances and changes in the carrying amount of Goodwill by segment are as follows (in millions of dollars):



	United States		Canada			Other businesses			Total
Balance at January 1, 2018	$	192	$	130		$	222		$	544
Impairment	—		—			(105		)	(105		)
Translation	—		(10		)	(5		)	(15		)
Balance at December 31, 2018	192		120			112			424
Translation	—		6			(1		)	5
Balance at December 31, 2019	$	192	$	126		$	111		$	429



	United States		Canada		Other businesses		Total
Cumulative goodwill impairment charges, December 31, 2019 (1)	$	—	$	32	$	152	$	184

(1) Restated to include only impairments related to current businesses in Grainger's portfolio.

There were no impairments to goodwill for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2017. In 2018, there was a $105 million goodwill impairment recorded in SG&A at the Cromwell business in the U.K.

The balances and changes in Intangible assets - net are as follows (in millions of dollars):



		As of December 31,
		2019						2018
	Weighted average life	Gross carrying amount		Accumulated amortization/ impairment		Net carrying amount		Gross carrying amount		Accumulated amortization/impairment		Net carrying amount
Customer lists and relationships	13.2 years	$	401	$	301	$	100	$	410	$	204	$	206
Trademarks, trade names and other	14.1 years	36		20		16		24		15		9
Non-amortized trade names and other	—	100		38		62		133		34		99
Capitalized software	4.2 years	626		500		126		657		511		146
Total intangible assets	8.2 years	$	1,163	$	859	$	304	$	1,224	$	764	$	460

Amortization expense of intangible assets presented within SG&A, excluding impairment charges was $78 million, $92 million, and $89 million for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively. Estimated amortization expense for future periods is as follows (in millions of dollars):



Year	Expense
2020	$	72
2021	55
2022	38
2023	13
2024	12
Thereafter	52
Total	$	242

Grainger completed its annual impairment testing during the fourth quarter of 2019. Qualitative tests for the quarter indicated the existence of impairment indicators for the Canada business and Cromwell (included in other businesses). As such, quantitative tests were performed.

Based on the result of the quantitative tests performed for the Canada business, the Company concluded that there was no impairment of goodwill. The risk of impairment for the Canada business is dependent upon key assumptions included in the determination of the reporting unit's fair value, particularly revenue growth expectations, future expected cash flows and operating earnings performance. Changes in assumptions regarding future performance and unfavorable economic environment in Canada may have a significant impact on future cash flows expectations and require the recording of future impairment charges. The carrying value of the Canada businesses goodwill was $126 million as of December 31, 2019.

The quantitative test for Cromwell indicated the existence of impairment of the reporting unit’s intangible assets. Cromwell’s declining operating performance and accelerated customer attrition resulted in lowered outlook projections. As a result, the Company concluded that Cromwell’s trade name was fully impaired. Concurrently, as a result of the circumstances leading to trade name impairment, the Company performed a recoverability and fair value test of Cromwell’s customer relationships intangible asset and concluded to impair the asset. The aggregate impairment charge for Cromwell’s intangibles in 2019 amounted to approximately $120 million.

Previously, during the third quarter of 2018 the Company recorded impairment charges totaling $139 million attributable to all of Cromwell’s goodwill and a portion of its trade name assets. This impairment was driven by the deterioration

of Cromwell’s operating performance at the time combined with prolonged softness and uncertainty in the U.K. market due to Brexit and other unfavorable economic conditions.