Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

GOODWILL AND INTANGIBLE ASSETS

v3.21.1
GOODWILL AND INTANGIBLE ASSETS
 3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2021
Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Abstract]  
GOODWILL AND INTANGIBLE ASSETS GOODWILL AND INTANGIBLE ASSETS
 
Goodwill.  Goodwill represents the cost in excess of the fair value of the net assets acquired in a business combination. Goodwill is tested for impairment at the reporting unit level on an annual basis and on an interim basis if an event occurs or circumstances change that would more likely than not reduce the fair value of a reporting unit below its carrying value. We perform our annual goodwill impairment tests as of September 30.

Changes in the amount of goodwill for the three months ended March 31, 2021, are as follows:
Workforce Solutions U.S.
Information
Solutions		 International Global Consumer Solutions Total
 
Balance, December 31, 2020 $ 1,010.7  $ 1,286.7  $ 2,007.9  $ 190.5  $ 4,495.8 
Acquisitions 128.2  433.1  18.4  —  579.7 
Foreign currency translation —  —  13.1  2.0  15.1 
Divestitures —  —  (1.3) —  (1.3)
Balance, March 31, 2021 $ 1,138.9  $ 1,719.8  $ 2,038.1  $ 192.5  $ 5,089.3 

Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets.  Indefinite-lived intangible assets consist of indefinite-lived reacquired rights representing the value of rights which we had granted to various affiliate credit reporting agencies that were reacquired in the U.S. and Canada. At the time we acquired these agreements, they were considered perpetual in nature under the accounting guidance in place at that time and, therefore, the useful lives are considered indefinite. Indefinite-lived intangible assets are not amortized. We are required to test indefinite-lived intangible assets for impairment annually and whenever events or circumstances indicate that there may be an impairment of the asset value. We perform our annual indefinite-lived intangible asset impairment test as of September 30. The estimated fair value of our indefinite-lived intangible assets exceeded the carrying value as of September 30, 2020. As a result, no impairment was recorded. Our indefinite-lived intangible asset carrying amounts did not change materially during the three months ended March 31, 2021.
 
Purchased Intangible Assets.  Purchased intangible assets represent the estimated acquisition date fair value of acquired intangible assets used in our business. Purchased data files represent the estimated acquisition date fair value of consumer information files acquired primarily through the purchase of independent credit reporting agencies in the U.S., Canada and Australia. We expense the cost of modifying and updating credit files in the period such costs are incurred. We amortize all of our purchased intangible assets on a straight-line basis. For additional information about the useful lives related to our purchased intangible assets, see Note 1 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in our 2020 Form 10-K.
Purchased intangible assets at March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020 consisted of the following:

  March 31, 2021 December 31, 2020
Gross Accumulated
Amortization		 Net Gross Accumulated
Amortization		 Net
Definite-lived intangible assets: (In millions)
Purchased data files $ 1,145.1  $ (417.4) $ 727.7  $ 913.7  $ (399.2) $ 514.5 
Acquired software and technology 44.5  (32.5) 12.0  115.3  (106.6) 8.7 
Customer relationships 686.2  (339.3) 346.9  680.1  (331.4) 348.7 
Proprietary database 201.2  (36.0) 165.2  148.6  (30.7) 117.9 
Non-compete agreements 9.3  (3.5) 5.8  6.5  (3.5) 3.0 
Trade names and other intangible assets 18.0  (10.1) 7.9  14.4  (9.4) 5.0 
Total definite-lived intangible assets $ 2,104.3  $ (838.8) $ 1,265.5  $ 1,878.6  $ (880.8) $ 997.8 
 
Amortization expense related to purchased intangible assets was $39.4 million and $35.0 million during the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

Estimated future amortization expense related to definite-lived purchased intangible assets at March 31, 2021 is as follows:

Years ending December 31,
Amount (1)
  (In millions)
2021 $ 119.8 
2022 155.1 
2023 149.7 
2024 141.2 
2025 137.8 
Thereafter 561.9 
  $ 1,265.5 

(1)Future amortization expense amounts are subject to change as we finalize purchase price allocations.