Goodwill and Intangible Assets

6 Months Ended

Mar. 29, 2020

Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Abstract]

Goodwill and Intangible Assets The following table summarizes the changes in the carrying value of goodwill:


	GSG		CIG		Total
	(in thousands)
Balance at September 29, 2019	$	441,802	$	483,018	$	924,820
Acquisition activity	35,560		5,508		41,068

Translation	(4,059)		(17,111)		(21,170)
Balance at March 29, 2020	$	473,303	$	471,415	$	944,718

The goodwill addition in GSG relates to the SEG acquisition completed in the second quarter of fiscal 2020. The purchase price allocation for this acquisition is preliminary and subject to adjustment based upon the final determination of the net assets acquired and information to perform the final valuation. Our goodwill was impacted by foreign currency translation related to our foreign subsidiaries with functional currencies that are different than our reporting currency. The goodwill amounts above are presented net of any reductions from historical impairment adjustments. The gross amounts of goodwill for GSG were $491.0 million and $459.5 million at March 29, 2020 and September 29, 2019, respectively, excluding $17.7 million of accumulated impairment. The gross amounts of goodwill for CIG were $577.1 million and $588.7 million at March 29, 2020 and September 29, 2019, respectively, excluding $105.7 million of accumulated impairment.

We perform our annual goodwill impairment review at the beginning of our fiscal fourth quarter. Our most recent annual review at July 1, 2019 (i.e. the first day of our fourth quarter in fiscal 2019) indicated that we had no impairment of goodwill, and all of our reporting units had estimated fair values that were in excess of their carrying values, including goodwill. All of our reporting units had estimated fair values that exceeded their carrying values by more than 25%.

We also regularly evaluate whether events and circumstances have occurred that may indicate a potential change in the recoverability of goodwill. We perform interim goodwill impairment reviews between our annual reviews if certain events and circumstances have occurred, such as a deterioration in general economic conditions; an increase in the competitive environment; a change in management, key personnel, strategy or customers; negative or declining cash flows; or a decline in actual or planned revenue or earnings compared with actual and projected results of relevant prior periods. Although we believe that our estimates of fair value for these reporting units are reasonable, if financial performance for these reporting units falls significantly below our expectations or market prices for similar business decline, the goodwill for these reporting units could become impaired.

We estimate the fair value of all reporting units with a goodwill balance based on a comparison and weighting of the income approach (weighted 70%), specifically the discounted cash flow method, and the market approach (weighted 30%), which estimates the fair value of our reporting units based upon comparable market prices and recent transactions, and also validates the reasonableness of the multiples from the income approach. The resulting fair value is most sensitive to the assumptions we use in our discounted cash flow analysis. The assumptions that have the most significant impact on the fair value calculation are the reporting unit’s revenue growth rate and operating profit margin, and the discount rate used to convert future estimated cash flows to a single present value amount.

During the second quarter of fiscal 2020, we considered whether the global economic disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic had caused the fair value of any of our reporting units to fall below their carrying value resulting in goodwill impairment. Although our forecasted revenue and operating income for the second half of fiscal 2020 are now lower than our expectations during our last annual and interim impairment tests, we concluded that none of our reporting units' fair value had fallen below their carrying value. However, our Asia Pacific ("ASP") and Remediation and Field Services ("RFS") reporting units had fair values that exceeded their carrying values by less than 20% as of March 29, 2020. The carrying values for our ASP and RFS reporting units include approximately $102 million and $48 million of goodwill, respectively. If the financial performance of the operations in the ASP and RFS reporting units were to deteriorate further and fall below our current revenue and operating profit margin forecasts, or we are required to increase the discount rate used in our cash flow analysis, the related goodwill may become impaired.

During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2019, we performed an interim goodwill impairment review of our RFS reporting unit and recorded a $7.8 million goodwill impairment charge. As a result of the impairment charge, the estimated fair value of the RFS reporting unit equaled its carrying value of $61 million at September 29, 2019, including the remaining $48.8 million of goodwill.

The gross amount and accumulated amortization of our acquired identifiable intangible assets with finite useful lives included in “Intangible assets, net” on our consolidated balance sheets, were as follows:


	March 29, 2020									September 29, 2019
	Weighted- Average Remaining Life (in Years)	Gross Amount		Accumulated Amortization		Gross Amount		Accumulated Amortization
	($ in thousands)

Client relations	3.0	$	58,708	$	(51,596)	$	56,779	$	(50,455)
Backlog	0.9	33,618		(27,889)		32,229		(24,968)
Trade names	1.8	7,143		(5,125)		7,714		(4,859)
Total		$	99,469	$	(84,610)	$	96,722	$	(80,282)

Amortization expense for the three and six months ended March 29, 2020 was $3.4 million and $6.4 million, respectively, compared to $2.2 million and $6.2 million for the prior-year periods. Estimated amortization expense for the remainder of fiscal 2020 and succeeding years is as follows:


	Amount
	(in thousands)
2020	$	5,096
2021	5,898
2022	2,173
2023	1,491
2024	201

Total	$	14,859