6.	Franchise Rights Acquired, Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets

Franchise rights acquired are due to acquisitions of the Company’s franchised territories as well as the acquisition of franchise promotion agreements and other factors associated with the acquired franchise territories. For the nine months ended October 1, 2016, the change in the carrying value of indefinite-lived franchise rights acquired is due to the Miami Acquisition as described in Note 5 and the effect of exchange rate changes.

Goodwill primarily relates to the acquisition of the Company by H.J. Heinz Company in 1978, the acquisition of WeightWatchers.com, Inc. in 2005, the acquisitions of the Company’s franchised territories, the acquisitions of the majority interest in VPM and of Wello in fiscal 2014 and the acquisition of Weilos in fiscal 2015. See Note 5 for further information on certain acquisitions. For the nine months ended October 1, 2016, the change in the carrying amount of goodwill is due to the Miami Acquisition as described in Note 5 and the effect of exchange rate changes as follows:


	North America		United Kingdom			Continental Europe		Other		Total
Balance as of January 2, 2016	$	133,408	$	1,370		$	7,260	$	17,293	$	159,331
Goodwill acquired during the period		2,945		0			0		0		2,945
Effect of exchange rate changes		2,134		(167	)		76		3,319		5,362

Balance as of October 1, 2016	$	138,487	$	1,203		$	7,336	$	20,612	$	167,638

The Company reviews goodwill and other indefinite-lived intangible assets, including franchise rights acquired with indefinite lives, for potential impairment on at least an annual basis or more often if events so require.

In the second quarter of fiscal 2016, the Company changed the timing to perform its annual impairment review of goodwill and other indefinite-lived intangible assets to the first day of fiscal May whereas it had previously performed the test as of the last day of the Company’s fiscal year. This accounting change was preferable because it provides the Company time to obtain the data from the winter season results which includes the first fiscal quarter, which represents approximately 40% of the full year recruitments, and incorporate this data into the current and future year performance estimates. The Company believes the resulting change in accounting principle related to changing the annual impairment testing date did not delay, accelerate, or avoid an impairment charge.

In performing the impairment analysis for goodwill, the fair value for the Company’s reporting units is estimated using a discounted cash flow approach. This approach involves projecting future cash flows attributable to the reporting unit and discounting those estimated cash flows using an appropriate discount rate. The estimated fair value is then compared to the carrying value of the reporting units. The Company has determined the appropriate reporting unit for purposes of assessing annual impairment to be the country for all reporting units. For all of the Company’s reporting units except for Brazil (see below), the Company estimated future cash flows by utilizing the historical debt-free cash flows (cash flows provided by operating activities less capital expenditures) attributable to that country and then applied expected future operating income growth rates for such country. The Company utilized operating income as the basis for measuring its potential growth because it believes it is the best indicator of the performance of its business. The Company then discounted the estimated future cash flows utilizing a discount rate which was calculated using the average cost of capital, which included the cost of equity and the cost of debt. The cost of equity was determined by combining a risk-free rate of return and a market risk premium for the Company’s peer group. The risk-free rate of return was determined based on the average rate of long-term U.S. Treasury securities. The market risk premium was determined by reviewing external market data. The cost of debt was determined by estimating the Company’s current borrowing rate.

As it relates to the impairment analysis for Brazil, the Company estimated future debt free cash flows in contemplation of its growth strategies for that market. In developing these projections, the Company considered the historical impact of similar growth strategies in other markets as well as the current market conditions in Brazil. The Company then discounted the estimated future cash flows utilizing a discount rate which was calculated using the average cost of capital, which included the cost of equity and the cost of debt. The cost of equity was determined by combining a risk-free rate of return and a market risk premium for the Company’s peer group. The risk-free rate of return was determined based on the average rate of long-term U.S. Treasury securities. The market risk premium was determined by reviewing external market data including the current economic conditions in Brazil and the country specific risk thereon. A further risk premium was included to reflect the risk associated with the rate of growth projected in the analysis. The cost of debt was determined by estimating the Company’s current borrowing rate.

In performing the impairment analysis for indefinite-lived franchise rights acquired, the fair value for franchise rights acquired is estimated using a discounted cash flow approach referred to as the hypothetical start-up approach for franchise rights related to the Company’s meetings business and a relief from royalty methodology for franchise rights related to the Company’s Online business. The aggregate estimated fair value for these rights is then compared to the carrying value of the unit of account for those franchise rights. The Company has determined the appropriate unit of account for purposes of assessing impairment to be the combination of the rights in the meetings and Online businesses in the country in which the acquisitions have occurred. In its hypothetical start-up approach analysis for fiscal 2016, the Company assumed that the year of maturity was reached after 7 years. Subsequent to the year of maturity, the Company assumed cash flows for the Online business based on its expected Online revenue growth rates for such country. Subsequent to the year of maturity, the Company estimated future cash flows for the meetings business in each country based on assumptions regarding revenue growth and operating income margins. The Company then discounted the estimated future cash flows utilizing discount rates consistent with those used in its goodwill impairment analysis as discussed above.

In performing its annual impairment analysis as of May 8, 2016, the Company determined that the carrying amounts of its goodwill reporting units and franchise rights acquired with indefinite lives units of account did not exceed their respective fair values and therefore, no impairment existed. Except for Brazil, there was significant headroom in the impairment analysis. Based on the results of this test for Brazil, the fair value of this reporting unit exceeded its carrying value by approximately 10%, and accordingly a relatively small change in the underlying assumptions would likely cause a change in the results of the impairment assessment and, as such, could result in an impairment of the goodwill related to Brazil, for which the carrying amount is $19,409.

The carrying values of finite-lived intangible assets as of October 1, 2016 and January 2, 2016 were as follows:


	October 1, 2016				January 2, 2016
	Gross Carrying Amount		Accumulated Amortization		Gross Carrying Amount		Accumulated Amortization
Capitalized software costs	$	126,751		98,386	$	119,658	$	86,134
Website development costs		113,805		82,249		100,105		68,673
Trademarks		11,082		10,596		10,960		10,435
Other		8,013		7,385		7,976		7,118

Trademarks and other intangible assets	$	259,651	$	198,616	$	238,699	$	172,360

Franchise rights acquired		4,548		4,548		4,182		4,059
Total finite-lived intangible assets	$	264,199	$	203,164	$	242,881	$	176,419

Aggregate amortization expense for finite-lived intangible assets was recorded in the amounts of $9,137 and $26,161 for the three and nine months ended October 1, 2016, respectively. Aggregate amortization expense for finite-lived intangible assets was recorded in the amounts of $7,743 and $26,771 for the three and nine months ended October 3, 2015, respectively. The franchise rights acquired related to the VPM acquisition were amortized ratably over a 2 year period. The franchise rights acquired related to the Miami Acquisition were amortized ratably over a 3 month period.

Estimated amortization expense of existing finite-lived intangible assets for the next five fiscal years and thereafter is as follows:


Remainder of fiscal 2016	$	8,952
Fiscal 2017	$	31,380
Fiscal 2018	$	15,194
Fiscal 2019	$	4,695
Fiscal 2020 and thereafter	$	814