Intangible Assets

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2024

Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Abstract]

Our identifiable intangible assets primarily consist of acquired permits and leasehold agreements, and franchise agreements, which grant us the right to operate out-of-home structures in specified locations and the right to provide advertising space on railroad and municipal transit properties. Identifiable intangible assets are amortized on a straight-line basis over their estimated useful life, which is the respective life of the agreement that in some cases includes historical experience of renewals.

Our identifiable intangible assets consist of the following:


(in millions)	Gross		Accumulated Amortization		Impairment		Net
As of March 31, 2024:
Permits and leasehold agreements	$	1,540.2	$	(907.7)	$	—	$	632.5
Franchise agreements(a)	944.0		(428.8)		(477.0)		38.2
Other intangible assets	19.4		(7.2)		—		12.2
Total intangible assets	$	2,503.6	$	(1,343.7)	$	(477.0)	$	682.9

As of December 31, 2023:
Permits and leasehold agreements	$	1,535.5	$	(893.8)	$	—	$	641.7
Franchise agreements(a)	934.8		(426.4)		(467.9)		40.5
Other intangible assets	19.5		(6.3)		—		13.2
Total intangible assets	$	2,489.8	$	(1,326.5)	$	(467.9)	$	695.4

(a)We reclassified all Prepaid MTA equipment deployment costs (see Note 16. Commitments and Contingencies) and recorded impairments in the second, third and fourth quarters of 2023, as well as the first quarter of 2024, due to the long-term outlook of our U.S. Transit and Other reporting unit.

In the three months ended March 31, 2024, we acquired 2 displays, resulting in amortizable intangible assets for permits and leasehold agreements of $4.5 million, which are amortized using the straight-line method over their estimated useful lives, an average period of 15.2 years.

All of our intangible assets, except goodwill, are subject to amortization. Amortization expense was $17.6 million in the three months ended March 31, 2024, and $21.8 million in the three months ended March 31, 2023.

As a result of our continued expectation of negative aggregate cash flows related to our MTA asset group, we recorded an additional impairment charge of $9.1 million in the first quarter of 2024, representing additional MTA equipment deployment cost spending during the quarter.