Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets

v3.19.3.a.u2
Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2019
Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets  
Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets

(7) Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets

Goodwill

Changes in the carrying amount of goodwill are as follows:

    

QxH

QVC International

Zulily

Corporate and Other

    

Total

 

amounts in millions

 

Balance at January 1, 2018

$

5,238

885

917

42

7,082

Foreign currency translation adjustments

(25)

(25)

Disposition (1)

(26)

(26)

Other (2)

(10)

(4)

(14)

Balance at December 31, 2018

5,228

860

917

12

7,017

Foreign currency translation adjustments

(1)

(1)

Impairment (3)

(440)

(440)

Balance at December 31, 2019

$

5,228

859

477

12

6,576

(1) As a result of the GCI Liberty Split-Off on March 9, 2018, the Company disposed of its wholly-owned subsidiary Evite, resulting in a $26 million decrease to goodwill.
(2) As discussed in note 4, the preliminary purchase price allocation for the HSN acquisition was adjusted, resulting in a decrease to goodwill.
(3) See discussion of the 2019 impairment below.

Goodwill recognized from acquisitions primarily relates to assembled workforces, website community and other intangible assets that do not qualify for separate recognition.

As presented in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets, tradenames is the other significant indefinite lived intangible asset.

Intangible Assets Subject to Amortization

Intangible assets subject to amortization are comprised of the following:

December 31, 2019

December 31, 2018

 

    

Gross

    

    

    

Net

    

Gross

    

    

    

Net

 

carrying

Accumulated

carrying

carrying

Accumulated

carrying

 

amount

amortization

amount

amount

amortization

amount

 

amounts in millions

 

Television distribution rights

$

764

 

(624)

 

140

 

723

 

(583)

 

140

Customer relationships

 

3,319

 

(2,891)

 

428

 

3,320

 

(2,768)

 

552

Other

 

1,343

 

(956)

 

387

 

1,329

 

(963)

 

366

Total

$

5,426

 

(4,471)

 

955

 

5,372

 

(4,314)

 

1,058

The weighted average life of these amortizable intangible assets was approximately 9 years at the time of acquisition.  However, amortization is expected to match the usage of the related asset and will be on an accelerated basis as demonstrated in table below.

Amortization expense for intangible assets with finite useful lives was $386 million, $426 million and $549 million for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively. Based on its amortizable intangible assets as of December 31, 2019, Qurate Retail expects that amortization expense will be as follows for the next five years (amounts in millions):

2020

    

$

319

2021

$

230

2022

$

143

2023

$

87

2024

$

74

Impairments

As a result of Zulily’s deteriorating financial performance, Zulily initiated a process to evaluate its current business model and long-term business strategy in light of the challenging retail environment.  Upon completing the evaluation of Zulily’s model and long-term strategy, it was determined during the third quarter of 2019 that an indication of impairment existed for the Zulily reporting unit related to its tradename and goodwill.  With the assistance of a third party specialist, the fair value of the tradename was determined using the relief from royalty method (Level 3), and an impairment in the amount of $580 million was recorded during the third quarter of 2019, in the impairment of intangible assets line item in the consolidated statements of operations. With the assistance of a third party specialist, the fair value of the Zulily reporting unit was determined using a discounted cash flow method (Level 3), and a goodwill impairment in the amount of $440 million was recorded during the third quarter of 2019, in the Impairment of intangible assets line item in the consolidated statements of operations.  As of December 31, 2019, the Zulily reporting unit has accumulated goodwill impairment losses of $440 million. Based on the quantitative assessment performed during the third quarter of 2019 and the resulting impairment losses recorded, the estimated fair values of the tradename and the Zulily reporting unit do not significantly exceed their carrying values as of December 31, 2019.

The Company performed a qualitative goodwill impairment analysis during the fourth quarter of 2019 and 2018 and determined that triggering events existed at the HSN reporting unit in both periods due to a variety of factors, primarily HSN’s inability to meet its 2019 and 2018 revenue projections. With the assistance of an external valuation expert, the Company determined the estimated business enterprise value of HSN, including its intangible assets and goodwill as of December 31, 2018, and the estimated value of its tradename intangible asset as of December 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018. In 2018 the business enterprise valuation was performed using a combination of a discounted cash flow model using HSN’s projections of future operating performance (income approach) and market multiples (market approach) (Level 3). In both periods the tradename valuation was performed using a relief from royalties method, primarily using a discounted cash flow model using HSN’s projections of future operating performance (income approach) and applying a royalty rate (market approach) (Level 3). As a result of the analysis, HSN recorded a $147 million and a $30 million impairment to its tradename intangible asset as of December 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018, respectively. No impairment of HSN’s goodwill was necessary in 2018.

As of December 31, 2019 the Company had accumulated goodwill impairment losses of $440 million.