Goodwill And Other Intangible Assets

12 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2011

Goodwill And Other Intangible Assets [Abstract]

8) Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets

Goodwill

Under FASB ASC 350-10-05 Intangibles-Goodwill and Other topic, goodwill impairment is deemed to exist if the net book value of a reporting unit exceeds its estimated fair value. If goodwill of a reporting unit is determined to be impaired, the amount of impairment is measured based on the excess of the net book value of the goodwill over the implied fair value of the goodwill.

The Partnership has selected August 31 of each year to perform its annual impairment review under this standard. The evaluations utilize an Income Approach and Market Approach (consisting of the Market Comparable and the Market Transaction Approach), which contain reasonable and supportable assumptions and projections reflecting management's best estimate in deriving the Partnership's total enterprise value. The Income Approach calculates over a discrete period the free cash flow generated by the Partnership to determine the enterprise value. The Market Comparable approach compares the Partnership to comparable companies in similar industries to determine the enterprise value. The Market Transaction approach uses exchange prices in actual sales and purchases of comparable businesses to determine the enterprise value.

The total enterprise value as indicated by these two approaches is compared to the Partnership's book value of net assets and reviewed in light of the Partnership's market capitalization.

The Partnership performed its annual goodwill impairment valuation in each of the periods ending August 31, 2011, 2010, and 2009, and it was determined based on each year's analysis that there was no goodwill impairment.

The preparation of this analysis was based upon management's estimates and assumptions, and future impairment calculations would be affected by actual results that are materially different from projected amounts. To provide for a sensitivity of the discount rates and transaction multiples used, ranges of high and low values are employed in the analysis, with the low values examined to ensure that a reasonably likely change in an assumption would not cause the Partnership to reach a different conclusion.

A summary of changes in the Partnership's goodwill during the fiscal years ended September 30, 2011 and 2010 are as follows (in thousands):


Balance as of September 30, 2009	$	182,942
Fiscal year 2010 acquisitions		16,110

Balance as of September 30, 2010		199,052
Fiscal year 2011 acquisitions (see Note 11. Business Combinations)		244

Balance as of September 30, 2011	$	199,296

Intangibles, net

Intangible assets subject to amortization consist of the following (in thousands):


	September 30, 2011						September 30, 2010
	Gross Carrying Amount		Accum. Amortization		Net		Gross Carrying Amount		Accum. Amortization		Net
Customer lists and other intangibles	$	256,172	$	203,824	$	52,348	$	252,385	$	193,491	$	58,894

Amortization expense for intangible assets was $10.3 million, $9.5 million, and $13.0 million, for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2011, 2010, and 2009, respectively. Total estimated annual amortization expense related to intangible assets subject to amortization, for the year ended September 30, 2012 and the four succeeding fiscal years ended September 30, is as follows (in thousands):


	Amount
2012	$	6,225
2013	$	6,223
2014	$	6,147
2015	$	6,011
2016	$	5,841

- 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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