INTANGIBLE ASSETS AND GOODWILL

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Abstract]

The Company's intangible assets at December 31, 2015 and 2014 consisted of the following (in thousands):



	December 31, 2015							December 31, 2014
	Gross Carrying Amount		Accumulated Amortization			Net Carrying Amount		Gross Carrying Amount		Accumulated Amortization			Net Carrying Amount		Amortization Period	Weighted Average Useful Life

Supply and distribution agreements	$	824,932	$	(227,994	)	$	596,938	$	842,642	$	(188,441	)	$	654,201	10 - 20 years	16 years

Technology	112,639		(61,404		)	51,235		108,987		(43,746		)	65,241		1 - 5 years	5 years

Patents	1,623		(1,562		)	61		1,623		(1,524		)	99		15 years	15 years

Internet domain names	40,352		(20,954		)	19,398		41,652		(16,895		)	24,757		2 - 20 years	8 years

Trade names	1,671,356		(183,101		)	1,488,255		1,674,218		(100,850		)	1,573,368		4-20 years	20 years

Non-compete agreements	22,847		(11,201		)	11,646		21,000		(3,908		)	17,092		3-4 years	3 years

Other	135		(135		)	—		141		(138		)	3
Total intangible assets	$	2,673,884	$	(506,351	)	$	2,167,533	$	2,690,263	$	(355,502	)	$	2,334,761

Intangible assets with determinable lives are amortized on a straight-line basis. Intangible assets amortization expense was approximately $171.0 million, $129.6 million and $69.6 million for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively.

The annual estimated amortization expense for intangible assets for the next five years and thereafter is expected to be as follows (in thousands):



2016	$	168,444
2017	161,207
2018	142,638
2019	132,192
2020	124,651
Thereafter	1,438,401
	$	2,167,533

A roll-forward of goodwill for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014 consisted of the following (in thousands):



	2015			2014
Balance, beginning of year	$	3,326,474		$	1,767,912
Acquisitions	74,584			1,590,829
Currency translation adjustments	(26,058		)	(32,267		)
Balance, end of year	$	3,375,000		$	3,326,474

A substantial portion of the intangibles and goodwill relates to the acquisition of OpenTable in July 2014 and KAYAK in May 2013. See Note 19 for further information on these acquisitions.

As of September 30, 2015, the Company performed its annual goodwill impairment testing using standard valuation techniques and concluded that there was no impairment of goodwill. Other than OpenTable, the fair values of the Company's reporting units substantially exceeded their respective carrying values as of September 30, 2015. Since the annual impairment test, there have been no events or changes in circumstances to indicate a potential impairment.

As of September 30, 2015, OpenTable’s carrying value was $2.5 billion, of which $1.5 billion relates to goodwill. The fair value of OpenTable slightly exceeded its carrying value as of September 30, 2015. OpenTable’s fair value was estimated using a combination of standard valuation techniques, including an income approach (discounted cash flows) and market approaches (EBITDA multiples of comparable publicly-traded companies and for precedent transactions).

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the aggregate amount of goodwill and a description of intangible assets, which may include (a) for amortizable intangible assets (also referred to as finite-lived intangible assets), the carrying amount, the amount of any significant residual value, and the weighted-average amortization period, (b) for intangible assets not subject to amortization (also referred to as indefinite-lived intangible assets), the carrying amount, and (c) the amount of research and development assets acquired and written off in the period, including the line item in the income statement in which the amounts written off are aggregated, if not readily apparent from the income statement. Also discloses (a) for amortizable intangibles assets in total and by major class, the gross carrying amount and accumulated amortization, the total amortization expense for the period, and the estimated aggregate amortization expense for each of the five succeeding fiscal years, (b) for intangible assets not subject to amortization the carrying amount in total and by major class, and (c) for goodwill, in total and for each reportable segment, the changes in the carrying amount of goodwill during the period (including the aggregate amount of goodwill acquired, the aggregate amount of impairment losses recognized, and the amount of goodwill included in the gain (loss) on disposal of a reporting unit). If any part of goodwill has not been allocated to a reportable segment, discloses the unallocated amount and the reasons for not allocating. For each impairment loss recognized related to an intangible asset (excluding goodwill), discloses: (a) a description of the impaired intangible asset and the facts and circumstances leading to the impairment, (b) the amount of the impairment loss and the method for determining fair value, (c) the caption in the income statement or the statement of activities in which the impairment loss is aggregated, and (d) the segment in which the impaired intangible asset is reported. For each goodwill impairment loss recognized, discloses: (a) a description of the facts and circumstances leading to the impairment, (b) the amount of the impairment loss and the method of determining the fair value of the associated reporting unit, and (c) if a recognized impairment loss is an estimate not finalized and the reasons why the estimate is not final. May also disclose the nature and amount of any significant adjustments made to a previous estimate of an impairment loss.

+ References + Details