Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets

12 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2012

Goodwill and Intangibles, Net [Abstract]

Goodwill and Intangibles, net

8) Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets

Goodwill

Under FASB ASC 350-10-05 Intangibles-Goodwill and Other, goodwill impairment if any, needs to be determined 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. 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, 2012, 2011, and 2010, 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, 2012 and 2011 are as follows (in thousands):

Balance as of September 30, 2010	$	199,052
Fiscal year 2011 acquisitions		244
Balance as of September 30, 2011		199,296
Fiscal year 2012 acquisitions (see Note 11. Business Combinations)		1,807
Balance as of September 30, 2012	$	201,103

Intangibles, net

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

	September 30,
	2012						2011
	Gross Carrying Amount		Accum. Amortization		Net		Gross Carrying Amount		Accum. Amortization		Net
Customer lists and other intangibles	$	286,783	$	212,071	$	74,712	$	256,172	$	203,824	$	52,348

Amortization expense for intangible assets was $8.2 million, $10.3 million, and $9.5 million, for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2012, 2011, and 2010, respectively. Total estimated annual amortization expense related to intangible assets subject to amortization, for the year ended September 30, 2013 and the four succeeding fiscal years ended September 30, is as follows (in thousands):

	Amount
2013	$	9,111
2014	$	9,035
2015	$	8,900
2016	$	8,729
2017	$	8,209