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Goodwill and Identifiable Intangible Assets
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2018
Goodwill And Intangible Assets Disclosure [Abstract]  
Goodwill and Identifiable Intangible Assets

8. Goodwill and Identifiable Intangible Assets

As of December 31, 2018, the Company has approximately $5,951 million of identifiable intangible assets, of which approximately $18 million, relating to a trade name, is deemed to be indefinite-lived and, accordingly, is not being amortized. Amortization expense associated with identifiable definite-lived intangible assets was as follows:

 

 

 

Year Ended December 31,

 

(in millions)

 

2018

 

 

2017

 

 

2016

 

Amortization expense

 

$

1,016

 

 

$

886

 

 

$

210

 

 

Estimated amortization expense for existing identifiable intangible assets is expected to be approximately $1,052 million, $997 million, $839 million, $489 million and $405 million for the years ending December 31, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023, respectively. Estimated amortization expense can be affected by various factors, including future acquisitions or divestitures of service and/or licensing and distribution rights or impairments.

The following is a summary of identifiable intangible assets:

 

 

As of December 31, 2018

 

 

As of December 31, 2017

 

(in millions)

 

Gross

Amount

 

 

Accumulated

Amortization

 

 

Net

Amount

 

 

Gross

Amount

 

 

Accumulated

Amortization

 

 

Net

Amount

 

Definite-lived identifiable

   intangible assets:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Client relationships and backlog

 

$

4,620

 

 

$

(863

)

 

$

3,757

 

 

$

4,604

 

 

$

(474

)

 

$

4,130

 

Trademarks, trade names and other

 

 

526

 

 

 

(108

)

 

 

418

 

 

 

528

 

 

 

(59

)

 

 

469

 

Databases

 

 

1,828

 

 

 

(823

)

 

 

1,005

 

 

 

1,876

 

 

 

(468

)

 

 

1,408

 

Software and related assets

 

 

1,279

 

 

 

(543

)

 

 

736

 

 

 

927

 

 

 

(382

)

 

 

545

 

Non-compete agreements

 

 

27

 

 

 

(10

)

 

 

17

 

 

 

24

 

 

 

(3

)

 

 

21

 

 

 

$

8,280

 

 

$

(2,347

)

 

$

5,933

 

 

$

7,959

 

 

$

(1,386

)

 

$

6,573

 

Indefinite-lived identifiable

   intangible assets:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trade names

 

$

18

 

 

$

 

 

$

18

 

 

$

18

 

 

$

 

 

$

18

 

The following is a summary of goodwill by segment for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017:

(in millions)

 

Technology & Analytics Solutions

 

 

Research &

Development

Solutions

 

 

Contract Sales & Medical Solutions

 

 

Consolidated

 

Balance as of December 31, 2016

 

$

9,415

 

 

$

1,196

 

 

$

116

 

 

$

10,727

 

Business combinations

 

 

403

 

 

 

178

 

 

 

 

 

 

581

 

Impairment

 

 

(40

)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(40

)

Impact of foreign currency fluctuations

   and other

 

 

570

 

 

 

11

 

 

 

1

 

 

 

582

 

Balance as of December 31, 2017

 

 

10,348

 

 

 

1,385

 

 

 

117

 

 

 

11,850

 

Business combinations

 

 

135

 

 

 

49

 

 

 

18

 

 

 

202

 

Impact of foreign currency fluctuations

   and other

 

 

(244

)

 

 

(7

)

 

 

(1

)

 

 

(252

)

Balance as of December 31, 2018

 

$

10,239

 

 

$

1,427

 

 

$

134

 

 

$

11,800

 

During 2017 and 2016, the Company determined there was sufficient indication that the carrying value of Encore Health Resources LLC (“Encore”) should be reviewed for impairment that resulted in recognized impairment losses of $40 million and $28 million, respectively, for declines in fair value of goodwill and identifiable intangible assets. Subsequent to the sale of Encore in 2017, there were no remaining accumulated goodwill impairment losses as of December 31, 2018 or 2017.