Financial Statement Information Intangible Assets (Policies)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2020

Intangible Assets [Abstract]

Goodwill and Intangible Assets, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Intangible Assets

Goodwill and indefinite-lived intangibles are tested for impairment at least annually, and we performed our annual impairment tests during the fourth quarter of 2019. Goodwill impairment testing may also be performed on an interim basis when events or circumstances arise that may lead to impairment. LKQ’s market capitalization declined by approximately 40%

between February 20, 2020, when the Company released its 2019 financial results, and March 31, 2020. While we believed that the decrease was driven by market reaction to COVID-19, the magnitude of the market capitalization decrease was deemed to be a triggering event requiring an interim test of goodwill impairment in the first quarter.

The fair value estimates of our reporting units were established using weightings of the results of a discounted cash flow methodology and a comparative market multiples approach. At the time of our analysis, our projections for the interim impairment test assumed that the COVID-19 impact would be severe, with revenue down by as much as 50% in the second quarter of 2020 compared to our prior forecast used in the 2019 impairment analysis, but temporary, as revenue would improve gradually in the second half of 2020. We expected that cost mitigation actions and cash preservation measures would dampen the negative impact of the projected revenue decline.

Based on the interim test in the first quarter of 2020, we determined no impairments existed as all reporting units had a fair value estimate that exceeded the carrying value by at least 12%, the level at which our Europe reporting unit exceeded its carrying value.

We did not identify a triggering event in the second quarter that necessitated an interim test of goodwill impairment, as LKQ’s market capitalization increased by approximately 28% between March 31 and June 30, 2020. Actual results for the second quarter were favorable relative to the forecast used in the first quarter interim test.