Goodwill and other intangible assets

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2021

Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Abstract]

Goodwill

Effective January 1, 2021, the Company changed its operating and reporting structure and, as a result, realigned certain of its reportable segments. Accordingly, the beginning balances of goodwill by segment have been recast to conform with the new structure. Changes in the carrying amount of goodwill by segment for the year ended December 31, 2021, are as follows:


	Consumer Packaging		Industrial Paper Packaging		All Other		Total
Balance as of January 1, 2021	$	581,244	$	369,315	$	438,696	$	1,389,255
Acquisitions	—		6,014		—		6,014
Divestitures	(1,058)		—		(53,039)		(54,097)

Measurement period adjustments	1,512		—		—		1,512
Foreign currency translation	(9,282)		(7,549)		(1,352)		(18,183)
Balance as of December 31, 2021	$	572,416	$	367,780	$	384,305	$	1,324,501

Goodwill from 2021 acquisitions relates to the first quarter acquisition of TuboTec and the fourth quarter acquisitions of D&W and American Recycling. Divestitures relate to the divestiture of the Company's U.S display and packaging business in the first quarter of 2021 and the divestiture of a small Plastics - Food thermoforming operation. Measurement period adjustments relate to final working capital settlements made in the first quarter of 2021 for the prior-year acquisition of Can Packaging. See Note 3 for additional information.

The Company assesses goodwill for impairment annually during the third quarter, or from time to time when warranted by the facts and circumstances surrounding individual reporting units or the Company as a whole. The Company completed its most recent annual goodwill impairment testing during the third quarter of 2021, and analyzed certain qualitative and quantitative factors in determining whether a goodwill impairment existed. The Company's assessments reflected a number of significant management assumptions and estimates including the Company's forecast of sales growth, gross profit margins, and discount rates. Changes in these assumptions could materially impact the Company's conclusions. Based on its assessments, the Company concluded that there was no impairment of goodwill for any of its reporting units.

Although no reporting units failed the annual impairment test, in management’s opinion, the goodwill of the Plastics - Healthcare reporting unit is at risk of impairment in the near term if the reporting unit's operations do not perform in line with management's expectations, or if there is a negative change in the long-term outlook for the business or in other factors such as the discount rate.

Although beginning to benefit from economic recovery, the results of the Plastics – Healthcare reporting unit have been negatively impacted by end-market weakness due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the unit is facing near-term headwinds from higher raw material and other cost increases. Assuming COVID-19 infection rates continue to decline, management expects market demand will improve over the coming year and that selling price increases and/or cost reductions, including restructuring actions and investments in production efficiency projects, will mitigate the impacts of recent raw material and other cost inflation. However, should it become apparent that the ongoing post-COVID-19 recovery is likely to be significantly weaker, delayed, or prolonged compared to management’s current expectations, significant negative price/cost relationships will persist over the long-term, or gross profit margins do not improve as expected, goodwill impairment charges may be possible in the future.

In its annual goodwill impairment analysis as of October 3, 2021, projected future cash flows for the Plastics - Healthcare reporting unit were discounted at 8.3%. Total goodwill associated with this reporting unit was $64,263 at December 31, 2021. In the latest annual impairment test, the estimated fair value of the Plastics - Healthcare reporting unit was determined to exceed its carrying value by approximately 13.3% . Based on the discounted cash flow model and holding other valuation assumptions constant, projected operating profits across all future periods would have to be reduced approximately 13.0%, or the discount rate increased to 9.3%, in order for the estimated fair value of the reporting unit to fall below carrying value.

During the time subsequent to the annual evaluation, and at December 31, 2021, the Company considered whether any events and/or changes in circumstances had resulted in the likelihood that the goodwill of any of its reporting units may have been impaired. It is management's opinion that no such events have occurred.

Other intangible assets

Details at December 31 are as follows:


	2021		2020
Other Intangible Assets, Gross:
Patents	$	29,315	$	29,325
Customer lists	592,195		622,430
Trade names	32,043		32,088
Proprietary technology	22,846		22,813
Other	2,807		2,831
Other Intangible Assets, Gross	$	679,206	$	709,487
Accumulated Amortization:
Patents	$	(16,275)	$	(14,511)
Customer lists	(347,274)		(339,159)
Trade names	(14,106)		(12,156)
Proprietary technology	(21,394)		(19,833)
Other	(2,014)		(1,894)
Accumulated Amortization	$	(401,063)	$	(387,553)
Other Intangible Assets, Net	$	278,143	$	321,934

The acquisitions of D&W in November 2021 and American Recycling in December 2021 resulted in the addition of $7,100 and $2,236, respectively, of intangible assets, primarily related to customer lists. These intangibles will be amortized over an average useful life of 10 years.

Aggregate amortization expense on intangible assets was $49,419, $52,899 and $51,580 for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively. Amortization expense on intangible assets is expected to approximate $45,800 in 2022, $41,800 in 2023, $33,500 in 2024, $25,200 in 2025 and $21,700 in 2026 based on intangible assets as of December 31, 2021. With the January 2022 acquisition of Ball Metalpack, (see Note 20 - Subsequent Events), annual amortization expense is expected to increase.