Property, Plant, and Equipment and Assets Held for Sale

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

Property, Plant, and Equipment and Assets Held for Sale

Property, Plant, and Equipment and Assets Held for Sale

Note 8 — Property, Plant, and Equipment and Assets Held for Sale

Property and equipment, net, consist of the following:

	December 31,				Average
	2017		2016		Useful Life
	(in thousands)
Land	$	5,669	$	5,669	N/A
Building and improvements	54,449		50,814		10 – 40 years
Machinery and equipment(1)	126,829		99,370		3 – 10 years
Leasehold improvements	10,073		3,652		3 – 7 years

Gross property, plant, and equipment	197,020		159,505
Less: accumulated depreciation and amortization	111,962		98,859

Net property, plant, and equipment	$	85,058	$	60,646

(1)

Machinery and equipment also includes software, furniture and fixtures

Depreciation expense was $14.6 million, $13.4 million, and $12.2 million for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016, and 2015, respectively. During 2016, the Company decided to reduce future investments in certain technologies and, as a result, recorded an impairment charge of $3.3 million of property, plant, and equipment.

As part of the Company’s efforts to reduce costs, enhance efficiency, and streamline operations, the Company removed certain lab equipment that is no longer required and recorded a non-cash impairment charge of $6.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2016. Additionally, as part of that initiative, the Company listed its two facilities in South Korea for sale. When each facility was reclassified as held for sale, the Company determined that the carrying values of the buildings exceeded their fair market values, less cost to sell, and recorded net impairment charges of $4.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2016. Both facilities were sold before the end of 2016 at prices that approximated the revised carrying values.

Finally, during the year ended December 31, 2016, the Company recorded an impairment charge of approximately $1.2 million related to an owned property in St. Paul, Minnesota. The property was sold during 2017, resulting in an additional impairment charge of $0.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2017. There were no assets held for sale as of December 31, 2017 and 2016. All impairment charges were recorded in “Asset impairment” in the Consolidated Statements of Operations.