FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2015

4.	FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS

Fair value is defined as an exit price, representing the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants based upon the best use of the asset or liability at the measurement date. Entities are required to use a fair value hierarchy which maximizes the use of observable inputs and minimizes the use of unobservable inputs when measuring fair value. There are three levels of inputs that may be used to measure fair value:

Level 1 – Observable inputs such as quoted market prices in active markets;

Level 2 – Inputs other than quoted prices in active markets that are either directly or indirectly observable; and

Level 3 – Unobservable inputs about which little or no market data exists, therefore requiring an entity to develop its own assumptions.

As of September 30, 2015 and December 31, 2014, the Company held certain financial assets that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis. These consisted of securities that are among the Company's investments in a rabbi trust which are intended to fund the Company's Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan ("SERP") obligations, and other marketable securities described below. The securities that are held in the rabbi trust are categorized as available-for-sale securities and are included as other assets in the accompanying condensed consolidated balance sheets at September 30, 2015 and December 31, 2014 at a carrying amount of $3.6 million and $6.5 million, respectively. During the third quarter of 2015, the Company sold $2.8 million of its investments in the rabbi trust and utilized the proceeds to purchase additional company-owned life insurance. The gross unrealized gains associated with the investment securities held in the rabbi trust were $0.6 million and $0.7 million at September 30, 2015 and December 31, 2014, respectively. Such unrealized gains are included, net of tax, in accumulated other comprehensive loss. As of September 30, 2015 and December 31, 2014, the Company had other marketable securities with a combined fair value of less than $0.1 million at each date, and gross unrealized gains of less than $0.1 million at each date. Such unrealized gains are included, net of tax, in accumulated other comprehensive income.

The fair value of the equity securities is determined based on quoted market prices in public markets and is categorized as Level 1. The Company does not have any financial assets measured at fair value on a recurring basis categorized as Level 3, and there were no transfers in or out of Level 1, Level 2 or Level 3 during the nine months ended September 30, 2015. There were no changes to the Company's valuation techniques used to measure asset fair values on a recurring or nonrecurring basis during the nine months ended September 30, 2015.

There were no financial assets accounted for at fair value on a nonrecurring basis as of September 30, 2015 or December 31, 2014.

The Company has other financial instruments, such as cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, restricted cash, accounts payable, accrued expenses and notes payable, which are not measured at fair value on a recurring basis but are recorded at amounts that approximate fair value due to their liquid or short-term nature. The fair value of the Company's long-term debt is estimated using a discounted cash flow method based on interest rates that are currently available for debt issuances with similar terms and maturities (Level 2 inputs). At September 30, 2015, the estimated fair value of long-term debt was $197.1 million compared to a carrying amount of 197.7 million. The Company did not have any other financial liabilities within the scope of the fair value disclosure requirements as of September 30, 2015 or December 31, 2014.

Nonfinancial assets and liabilities, such as goodwill, indefinite-lived intangible assets and long-lived assets, are accounted for at fair value on a nonrecurring basis. These items are tested for impairment on the occurrence of a triggering event or, in the case of goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets, on at least an annual basis. There were no triggering events that occurred during the nine months ended September 30, 2015 or 2014 that would warrant interim impairment testing.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the fair value of financial instruments (as defined), including financial assets and financial liabilities (collectively, as defined), and the measurements of those instruments as well as disclosures related to the fair value of non-financial assets and liabilities. Such disclosures about the financial instruments, assets, and liabilities would include: (1) the fair value of the required items together with their carrying amounts (as appropriate); (2) for items for which it is not practicable to estimate fair value, disclosure would include: (a) information pertinent to estimating fair value (including, carrying amount, effective interest rate, and maturity, and (b) the reasons why it is not practicable to estimate fair value; (3) significant concentrations of credit risk including: (a) information about the activity, region, or economic characteristics identifying a concentration, (b) the maximum amount of loss the entity is exposed to based on the gross fair value of the related item, (c) policy for requiring collateral or other security and information as to accessing such collateral or security, and (d) the nature and brief description of such collateral or security; (4) quantitative information about market risks and how such risks are managed; (5) for items measured on both a recurring and nonrecurring basis information regarding the inputs used to develop the fair value measurement; and (6) for items presented in the financial statement for which fair value measurement is elected: (a) information necessary to understand the reasons for the election, (b) discussion of the effect of fair value changes on earnings, (c) a description of [similar groups] items for which the election is made and the relation thereof to the balance sheet, the aggregate carrying value of items included in the balance sheet that are not eligible for the election; (7) all other required (as defined) and desired information.

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