GOODWILL AND INTANGIBLE ASSETS

12 Months Ended

Dec. 26, 2015

Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Abstract]

Amortized Intangible Assets

The components of amortized intangible assets at December 26, 2015 and December 27, 2014 were as follows:



	December 26, 2015
	Gross Carrying Amount		Accumulated Amortization		Weighted Average Life
Customer Relationships	$	201,801	$	101,614	13 years
Proprietary Software & Database	3,571		2,966		8 years
Patents & Proprietary Technology	6,815		3,421		11 years
Other	3,752		3,671		3 years
	$	215,939	$	111,672

(7) GOODWILL AND INTANGIBLE ASSETS (Continued)



	December 27, 2014
	Gross Carrying Amount		Accumulated Amortization		Weighted Average Life
Customer Relationships	$	207,509	$	88,538	13 years
Proprietary Software & Database	3,769		2,977		8 years
Patents & Proprietary Technology	12,394		8,537		8 years
Other	4,355		2,998		3 years
	$	228,027	$	103,050

Amortization expense for intangible assets was $18,339, $18,414 and $15,233 for the fiscal years ended December 26, 2015, December 27, 2014 and December 28, 2013, respectively.

Estimated annual amortization expense related to finite‑lived intangible assets is as follows:



	Estimated Amortization Expense
2016	$	15,945
2017	15,905
2018	14,259
2019	13,452
2020	12,430

The useful lives assigned to finite‑lived intangible assets included consideration of factors such as the Company’s past and expected experience related to customer retention rates, the remaining legal or contractual life of the underlying arrangement that resulted in the recognition of the intangible asset and the Company’s expected use of the intangible asset.

Non-amortized intangible assets

Intangible assets with indefinite lives are not amortized. The carrying values of trade names at December 26, 2015 and December 27, 2014 were as follows:



	December 26, 2015		December 27, 2014		Year Acquired
Webforge	$	10,430	$	16,801	2010
Valmont SM	8,919		10,818		2014
Newmark	11,111		11,111		2004
Ingal EPS/Ingal Civil Products	8,504		8,867		2010
Donhad	6,415		6,689		2010
Shakespeare	4,000		4,000		2014
Industrial Galvanizers	2,662		3,889		2010
Other	13,889		14,852
	$	65,930	$	77,027

(7) GOODWILL AND INTANGIBLE ASSETS (Continued)

In its determination of these intangible assets as indefinite‑lived, the Company considered such factors as its expected future use of the intangible asset, legal, regulatory, technological and competitive factors that may impact the useful life or value of the intangible asset and the expected costs to maintain the value of the intangible asset. The Company expects that these intangible assets will maintain their value indefinitely. Accordingly, these assets are not amortized.

The Company’s trade names were tested for impairment in the third quarter of 2015. The values of the trade names were determined using the relief-from-royalty method. Based on this evaluation, the Company recorded a $5,000 impairment of the Webforge trade name (in Energy and Mining segment) and a $1,100 impairment of the Industrial Galvanizing trade name (in Coatings segment) during 2015. The lower price of oil and natural gas in the fourth quarter of 2015 was a qualitative event requiring the Company to re-assess the fair value of the Webforge trade name. As a result, the Company recognized an additional $830 impairment of that trade name. No other trade names were determined to be impaired during 2015.

Goodwill

The carrying amount of goodwill by segment as of December 26, 2015 and December 27, 2014 was as follows:



	Engineered Support Structures Segment			Energy and Mining Segment			Utility Support Structures Segment		Coatings Segment			Irrigation Segment			Total
Balance at December 27, 2014	$	107,868		$	106,770		$	75,404	$	75,533		$	19,536		$	385,111
Impairment	—			(18,670		)	—		(16,222		)	—			(34,892		)
Acquisition	—			—			—		3,019			—			3,019
Foreign currency translation	(4,856		)	(6,941		)	—		(2,611		)	(177		)	(14,585		)
Divestiture of business	(1,737		)	—			—		—			—			(1,737		)
Balance at December 26, 2015	$	101,275		$	81,159		$	75,404	$	59,719		$	19,359		$	336,916



	Engineered Support Structures Segment			Energy and Mining Segment			Utility Support Structures Segment		Coatings Segment			Irrigation Segment			Total
Balance at December 28, 2013	$	97,253		$	96,759		$	75,404	$	77,796		$	2,420		$	349,632
Acquisition	15,416			16,803			—		—			17,193			49,412
Foreign currency translation	(4,801		)	(6,792		)	—		(2,263		)	(77		)	(13,933		)
Balance at December 27, 2014	$	107,868		$	106,770		$	75,404	$	75,533		$	19,536		$	385,111

During the second quarter of 2015, the Company divested of a small business in its ESS segment. The goodwill allocated to that business was $1,737 and was required to be written off based on the selling price of the divested business.

The Company’s annual impairment test of goodwill was performed during the third quarter of 2015, using the discounted cash flow method. In step one of the annual evaluation of the APAC Coatings reporting, we determined that the estimated fair value was lower than the carrying value. As a result, the Company recorded a preliminary $9,100 impairment of goodwill on the APAC Coatings reporting unit. The Company finalized step two of the impairment analysis during the fourth quarter of 2015 recording an additional impairment of $7,122, which was the remaining goodwill on this reporting unit. The additional impairment resulted from the estimated fair values of the land of this reporting unit's owned facilities appraising higher than carrying value. The goodwill impairment was a result of difficulties in the Australian market over the last couple of years, including a general slowdown in manufacturing.

(7) GOODWILL AND INTANGIBLE ASSETS (Continued)

At the end of the third quarter, the Company determined that its goodwill for all other reporting units was not impaired, as the valuation of the reporting units exceeded their respective carrying values. In December 2015, the price of a barrel of oil began a steady decline to below $40. The lower price of oil and natural gas required the Company to re-assess the financial projections used for the annual impairment of goodwill analysis performed for the Access Systems reporting unit. Specifically, research reports project that oil prices will not rebound above $50 a barrel for the near term. This required lowering the net sales and cash flow projections for this reporting unit. The result of this interim impairment test of goodwill was the carrying value of the reporting unit was higher than its estimated fair value. Accordingly, the Company recorded a $18,670 million impairment of Access System's goodwill in the fourth quarter of 2015.

- 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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