Goodwill and Intangible Assets

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2014

Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Abstract]

Goodwill

Goodwill represents the excess of the cost of an acquired business over the fair value of the identifiable tangible and intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed in a business combination. At September 30, 2014, and December 31, 2013, we had $487.9 million and $472.9 million of goodwill recorded in our Packaging segment, respectively, and $54.0 million and $53.9 million of goodwill recorded in our Paper segment, respectively, on our Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Changes in the carrying amount of our goodwill were as follows (dollars in thousands):



	Goodwill
Balance at December 31, 2013	$	526,789
Acquisitions (a)	10,734
Adjustments related to purchase accounting (b)	4,388
Balance at September 30, 2014	$	541,911

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(a)	In April 2014, we acquired the assets of Crockett Packaging, a corrugated products manufacturer, for $21.2 million, before $0.9 million of working capital adjustments, and recorded $10.7 million of goodwill in our Packaging segment.


(b)	Adjustments relate primarily to the Boise acquisition, see Note 3, Acquisitions, for more information.

We have historically performed our annual goodwill impairment testing as of December 31. During the third quarter of 2014, we changed the annual goodwill impairment testing date from December 31 to October 1. We believe this change in measurement date, which represents a change in method of applying an accounting principle, is preferable. While remaining in the fourth quarter, the measurement date will lessen resource constraints in connection with the year-end close and financial reporting process by allowing us additional time to complete our annual impairment testing in advance of our year-end reporting. The change in accounting principle does not delay, accelerate, or avoid an impairment charge. We have determined that it is not practical to objectively determine projected cash flows and related valuation estimates that would have been used as of October 1 for periods prior to October 1, 2014, without the use of hindsight. As such, we prospectively applied the change in our annual goodwill impairment test date as of the first day of the fourth quarter of 2014.

Intangible Assets

Intangible assets are primarily comprised of customer relationships and trademarks and trade names.

The weighted average remaining useful life, gross carrying amount, and accumulated amortization of our intangible assets were as follows (dollars in thousands):



	September 30, 2014					December 31, 2013
	Weighted Average Remaining Useful Life (in Years)	Gross Carrying Amount		Accumulated Amortization		Weighted Average Remaining Useful Life (in Years)	Gross Carrying Amount		Accumulated Amortization
Customer relationships	14.5	$	311,461	$	31,759	15.4	$	306,361	$	16,509
Trademarks and trade names	13.6	21,770		2,455		14.7	21,370		794
Other	2.4	220		141		3.0	220		109
Total intangible assets (excluding goodwill)	14.4	$	333,451	$	34,355	15.4	$	327,951	$	17,412

Amortization expense for the three months ended September 30, 2014 and 2013, was $5.7 million and $0.8 million, respectively. During the nine months ended September 30, 2014 and 2013, amortization expense was $16.9 million and $2.5 million, respectively. The increase in amortization expense relates primarily to the acquisition of Boise in fourth quarter 2013.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the aggregate amount of goodwill and a description of intangible assets, which may include (a) for amortizable intangible assets (also referred to as finite-lived intangible assets), the carrying amount, the amount of any significant residual value, and the weighted-average amortization period, (b) for intangible assets not subject to amortization (also referred to as indefinite-lived intangible assets), the carrying amount, and (c) the amount of research and development assets acquired and written off in the period, including the line item in the income statement in which the amounts written off are aggregated, if not readily apparent from the income statement. Also discloses (a) for amortizable intangibles assets in total and by major class, the gross carrying amount and accumulated amortization, the total amortization expense for the period, and the estimated aggregate amortization expense for each of the five succeeding fiscal years, (b) for intangible assets not subject to amortization the carrying amount in total and by major class, and (c) for goodwill, in total and for each reportable segment, the changes in the carrying amount of goodwill during the period (including the aggregate amount of goodwill acquired, the aggregate amount of impairment losses recognized, and the amount of goodwill included in the gain (loss) on disposal of a reporting unit). If any part of goodwill has not been allocated to a reportable segment, discloses the unallocated amount and the reasons for not allocating. For each impairment loss recognized related to an intangible asset (excluding goodwill), discloses: (a) a description of the impaired intangible asset and the facts and circumstances leading to the impairment, (b) the amount of the impairment loss and the method for determining fair value, (c) the caption in the income statement or the statement of activities in which the impairment loss is aggregated, and (d) the segment in which the impaired intangible asset is reported. For each goodwill impairment loss recognized, discloses: (a) a description of the facts and circumstances leading to the impairment, (b) the amount of the impairment loss and the method of determining the fair value of the associated reporting unit, and (c) if a recognized impairment loss is an estimate not finalized and the reasons why the estimate is not final. May also disclose the nature and amount of any significant adjustments made to a previous estimate of an impairment loss.

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