Goodwill and Intangible Assets

12 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2014

8. Goodwill and Intangible Assets

The Company's goodwill and intangible assets relate primarily to assets valued as a result of the Merger on October 1, 2010. The Company does not amortize its goodwill or indefinite lived intangible assets. Instead, the Company performs an assessment to test these assets for impairment annually, or more frequently if events or changes in circumstances indicate they may be impaired.

On a quarterly basis, we monitor the key drivers of fair value to detect events or other changes that would warrant an interim impairment test of our goodwill and intangibles. The key assumptions that drive the cash flows of our reporting units and intangible assets are estimated revenue growth rates and levels of profitability. Terminal value growth rate assumptions, weighted average cost of capital rates ("WACC") as well as royalty rates are used in conjunction with these key assumptions in order to derive the estimated fair value. These assumptions are subject to uncertainty, including our ability to grow revenue and improve or maintain profitability levels. Relatively small declines in the future performance and cash flows of a reporting unit or asset group or small changes in other key assumptions may result in the recognition of significant asset impairment charges.

Goodwill and Other Intangible Asset Impairment Charges

The North American Retail and Direct Response/E-Commerce segments have seen increased competition as well as increased use of promotions in order to maintain sales levels. During the fourth fiscal quarter of 2014, the Direct Response/E-Commerce and North American Retail segments recorded impairment charges of $61,590 and $25,744, respectively, related to goodwill. This was in connection with our annual impairment assessment and the completion of a strategic planning process relating to the rates of growth of sales, profit and cash flow and expectations for future performance. In addition, as a part of this process, we recorded impairment charges of $110,000 and $10,000 on the indefinite lived tradenames of the Direct Response/E-Commerce and North American Retail segments, respectively.

Goodwill

The changes in the carrying amount of goodwill by segment for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2014 and 2013 are as follows:

	Wholesale			European Retail			Direct Response/ E-Commerce			North American Retail			Consolidated
Balance at September 30, 2012	$	613,561		$	281,025		$	317,985		$	7,744		$	1,220,315
Reassignment of goodwill(1)		—			35,000			(53,000	)		18,000			—
Acquisitions		35,500			4,147			—			—			39,647
Foreign currency translation		(3,841	)		4,681			—			—			840

Balance at September 30, 2013		645,220			324,853			264,985			25,744			1,260,802
Purchase price adjustments		—			517			—			—			517
Impairment of goodwill		—			—			(61,590	)		(25,744	)		(87,334	)
Foreign currency translation		(6,590	)		(4,113	)		—			—			(10,703	)

Balance at September 30, 2014	$	638,630		$	321,257		$	203,395		$	—		$	1,163,282

(1)	Goodwill was reassigned based on the relative fair values of the elements transferred and the elements remaining in the respective segment.

Other Intangible Assets

The carrying amounts of acquired other intangible assets are as follows at September 30:

	2014				2013
	Gross carrying amount		Accumulated amortization		Gross carrying amount		Accumulated amortization		Amortization period (years)
Definite lived intangible assets
Brands and customer relationships	$	912,200	$	155,776	$	913,972	$	116,330		17–25
Tradenames and other		175,872		22,644		177,903		16,677		20–30

		1,088,072		178,420		1,091,875		133,007
Indefinite lived intangible asset
Tradenames		881,940		—		1,001,484		—

Total intangible assets	$	1,970,012	$	178,420	$	2,093,359	$	133,007

Aggregate amortization expense of other definite lived intangible assets included in the Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Loss) in selling, general and administrative expenses in fiscal 2014, 2013 and 2012 was $46,027, $45,753 and $43,960, respectively.

Assuming no changes in our other intangible assets, estimated amortization expense for each of the five succeeding years will be approximately $46,000 per year.

- 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.

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