Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

LONG-LIVED ASSETS

v3.2.0.727
LONG-LIVED ASSETS
 6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2015
LONG-LIVED ASSETS [Abstract]  
LONG-LIVED ASSETS
LONG-LIVED ASSETS
Definite-lived Intangible Assets
The Company has definite-lived intangible assets which are amortized over the shorter of either the lives of the respective agreements or the period of time the assets are expected to contribute to the Company’s future cash flows. The amortization is recognized on either a straight-line or expected cash flows basis.
The following table presents the changes in the gross carrying amount and accumulated amortization of definite-lived intangible assets for the six months ended June 30, 2015:
 
Revenue-
generating
contracts
 
Client /
vendor
relationships
 
Non-compete
agreements
 
Venue
management
and
leaseholds
 
Technology
 
Trademarks
and
naming
rights
 
Other
 
Total
 
(in thousands)
Balance as of December 31, 2014:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Gross carrying amount
$
635,127

 
$
355,992

 
$
123,552

 
$
83,322

 
$
15,330

 
$
24,266

 
$
3,581

 
$
1,241,170

Accumulated amortization
(272,071
)
 
(123,195
)
 
(98,512
)
 
(50,490
)
 
(4,246
)
 
(8,701
)
 
(1,242
)
 
(558,457
)
Net
363,056

 
232,797

 
25,040

 
32,832

 
11,084

 
15,565

 
2,339

 
682,713

Gross carrying amount:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Acquisitions— current year
115,097

 
15,000

 
—

 
—

 
17,950

 
42,470

 
—

 
190,517

Acquisitions— prior year
(4,246
)
 
(1,523
)
 
1,500

 
—

 
11

 
—

 
—

 
(4,258
)
Foreign exchange
(7,470
)
 
(4,124
)
 
—

 
(341
)
 
143

 
(203
)
 
—

 
(11,995
)
Other (1)
(16,473
)
 
(2,655
)
 
—

 
(6,212
)
 
—

 
(9
)
 
—

 
(25,349
)
Net change
86,908

 
6,698

 
1,500

 
(6,553
)
 
18,104

 
42,258

 
—

 
148,915

Accumulated amortization:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Amortization
(36,676
)
 
(25,371
)
 
(5,904
)
 
(4,506
)
 
(1,761
)
 
(1,718
)
 
(194
)
 
(76,130
)
Foreign exchange
2,839

 
961

 
—

 
333

 
(39
)
 
182

 
—

 
4,276

Other (1)
16,473

 
2,655

 
—

 
6,172

 
—

 
12

 
—

 
25,312

Net change
(17,364
)
 
(21,755
)
 
(5,904
)
 
1,999

 
(1,800
)
 
(1,524
)
 
(194
)
 
(46,542
)
Balance as of June 30, 2015:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Gross carrying amount
722,035

 
362,690

 
125,052

 
76,769

 
33,434

 
66,524

 
3,581

 
1,390,085

Accumulated amortization
(289,435
)
 
(144,950
)
 
(104,416
)
 
(48,491
)
 
(6,046
)
 
(10,225
)
 
(1,436
)
 
(604,999
)
Net
$
432,600

 
$
217,740

 
$
20,636

 
$
28,278

 
$
27,388

 
$
56,299

 
$
2,145

 
$
785,086

_________
(1) 
Other includes net downs of fully amortized or impaired assets.
Included in the current year acquisitions amount above of $190.5 million are intangibles for revenue-generating contracts and trademarks and naming rights primarily associated with the acquisitions of controlling interests in two festival promoters located in the United States and the acquisition of a ticketing business located in the United States previously accounted for under the equity method.
The 2015 additions to definite-lived intangible assets from acquisitions have weighted-average lives as follows:
  
Weighted-
Average
Life (years)
 
 
Revenue-generating contracts
9
Client/vendor relationships
8
Technology
10
Trademarks and naming rights
10
All categories
9

Amortization of definite-lived intangible assets for the three months ended June 30, 2015 and 2014 was $43.5 million and $33.3 million, respectively, and for the six months ended June 30, 2015 and 2014 was $76.1 million and $67.9 million, respectively. Amortization related to nonrecoupable ticketing contract advances for the three months ended June 30, 2015 and 2014 was $13.2 million and $11.6 million, respectively, and for the six months ended June 30, 2015 and 2014 was $32.8 million and $29.0 million, respectively.
The following table presents the Company’s estimate of future amortization expense for the remainder of 2015 through 2019 for definite-lived intangible assets that exist at June 30, 2015:
 
(in thousands)
July 1 - December 31, 2015
$
75,497

2016
$
144,778

2017
$
125,955

2018
$
110,133

2019
$
97,110


As acquisitions and dispositions occur in the future and the valuations of intangible assets for recent acquisitions are completed, amortization may vary. Therefore, the expense to date is not necessarily indicative of the expense expected for the full year.
Goodwill
The following table presents the changes in the carrying amount of goodwill in each of the Company’s reportable segments for the six months ended June 30, 2015:
 
Concerts
 
Ticketing
 
Artist
Nation
 
Sponsorship
&  Advertising
 
Total
 
(in thousands)
Balance as of December 31, 2014:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Goodwill
$
577,891

 
$
657,631

 
$
345,513

 
$
302,865

 
$
1,883,900

Accumulated impairment losses
(386,915
)
 
—

 
(17,948
)
 
—

 
(404,863
)
                 Net
190,976

 
657,631

 
327,565

 
302,865

 
1,479,037

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Acquisitions—current year
79,915

 
79,277

 
4,800

 
20,455

 
184,447

Acquisitions—prior year
(35,844
)
 
(4,245
)
 
4,461

 
4,335

 
(31,293
)
Foreign exchange
(2,159
)
 
(6,779
)
 
343

 
(4,473
)
 
(13,068
)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Balance as of June 30, 2015:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Goodwill
619,803

 
725,884

 
355,117

 
323,182

 
2,023,986

Accumulated impairment losses
(386,915
)
 
—

 
(17,948
)
 
—

 
(404,863
)
                 Net
$
232,888

 
$
725,884

 
$
337,169

 
$
323,182

 
$
1,619,123


Included in the current year acquisitions amount above of $184.4 million is goodwill primarily associated with the acquisitions of controlling interests in two festival promoters and the acquisition of a ticketing business previously accounted for under the equity method, all located in the United States.
Included in the prior year acquisitions amount above is a decrease of $31.3 million of goodwill primarily associated with the acquisition of a controlling interest in a festival and concert promoter located in the United States.
The Company is in various stages of finalizing its acquisition accounting for recent acquisitions, which include the use of external valuation consultants, and the completion of this accounting could result in a change to the associated purchase price allocations, including goodwill and its allocation between segments.