Goodwill, Trade Names, and Other Intangible Assets

The Company had the following acquired intangible assets:



	December 31, 2019						December 31, 2018
	Gross Carrying Amount		Accumulated Amortization		Net Carrying Amount		Gross Carrying Amount		Accumulated Amortization		Net Carrying Amount
	(amounts in thousands)
Intangible assets subject to amortization:
Databases	$	30,530	$	12,269	$	18,261	$	30,530	$	9,216	$	21,314
Customer relationships	49,758		26,596		23,162		49,758		23,296		26,462
Non-compete agreements	320		161		159		320		97		223
Trade names	4,500		1,125		3,375		8,879		1,696		7,183
Other intangible assets, net	$	85,108	$	40,151	$	44,957	$	89,487	$	34,305	$	55,182
Intangible assets not subject to amortization:
Trade names, indefinite-lived					$	5,900					$	20,402

As of December 31, 2019, estimated annual amortization expense is as follows:



Years Ending December 31:	(amounts in thousands)
2020	$	9,688
2021	6,105
2022	6,028
2023	5,926
2024	5,287
Thereafter	11,923
	$	44,957

The changes in the carrying amount of goodwill by segment are as follows:



	Nurse and Allied Staffing			Physician Staffing			Search			Total
	(amounts in thousands)
Balances as of December 31, 2018
Aggregate goodwill acquired	$	348,567		$	43,405		$	19,307		$	411,279
Sale of business	—			—			(9,889		)	(9,889		)
Accumulated impairment loss	(259,732		)	(40,598		)	—			(300,330		)
Goodwill, net of impairment loss	88,835			2,807			9,418			101,060

Changes to aggregate goodwill in 2019
Goodwill acquisition adjustment - AP Staffing	6			—			—			6
Rebranding reassignment (a)	(2,443		)	—			2,443			—

Balances as of December 31, 2019
Aggregate goodwill acquired	346,130			43,405			21,750			411,285
Sale of business	—			—			(9,889		)	(9,889		)
Accumulated impairment loss	(259,732		)	(40,598		)	—			(300,330		)
Goodwill, net of impairment loss	$	86,398		$	2,807		$	11,861		$	101,066

_______________

(a) As a result of the Company merging its permanent search recruitment brands into its Search segment in the second quarter of 2019, $2.4 million of goodwill was reassigned from its Nurse and Allied Staffing reporting unit to its Search reporting unit.

2019

Trade Names and Other Intangible Assets

As part of evolving its go-to-market strategy, in the second quarter of 2019, the Company began eliminating certain brands across all of its segments. The Company’s rebranding efforts resulted in a $14.5 million write-off of indefinite-lived trade names related to its Nurse and Allied Staffing segment, which is presented as impairment charges in the consolidated statements of operations. In addition, during the year ended December 31, 2019, the amortization of certain finite-lived trade names was accelerated, which resulted in additional amortization expense related to the Company's Nurse and Allied Staffing and Physician Staffing segments of $2.1 million and $0.8 million, respectively, which impacted the net (loss) income per share attributable to common shareholders of $0.08. If the Company had not accelerated the amortization, it would have been recognized over a weighted average life of 7.8 years.

In connection with its rebranding efforts, the Company made a decision at the end of 2019 to eliminate an additional brand by the end of 2020. In connection with this decision, the Company expects accelerated amortization of $2.9 million in 2020, which would have been recognized over a weighted average life of 7.5 years.

Goodwill

The Company performed its annual quantitative impairment test of goodwill and its indefinite-lived trade name as of October 1, 2019, and determined that the estimated fair value of its reporting units and its indefinite-lived trade name exceeded their respective carrying values. For the Search reporting unit, there was less than 20% of excess fair value over its carrying amount leaving it at risk of impairment in future periods if forecasted results are not achieved. The fair value for the other reporting units was substantially in excess of their carrying values. Although management believes that the Company's current estimates and assumptions are reasonable and supportable, there can be no assurance that the estimates and assumptions made for purposes of the impairment testing will prove to be accurate predictions of future performance.

2018 and 2017 Impairment Charges

The Company performed its annual quantitative impairment test of goodwill and other indefinite-lived intangible assets as of October 1, 2018 and 2017. Upon completion of the impairment testing for both years, it was determined that the estimated fair value of the Physician Staffing reporting unit’s trade name was less than its carrying amount resulting in impairment. For its goodwill impairment testing, with the exception of its Physician Staffing reporting unit, the estimated fair value of its reporting units exceeded their respective carrying values.

Projections of revenue, operating costs, and expected cash flows of each reporting unit are inputs into the quantitative testing for goodwill and intangible assets. The Company reduced its long-term revenue forecast for the Physician Staffing business segment in the fourth quarter of 2018 and 2017. The lower than expected revenue was driven by lower booking volumes, partly due to the loss of customers. In addition, margins of the reporting unit were negatively impacted from continued investments in the business. As a result, during the fourth quarter of 2018 and 2017 the Company recorded non-cash impairment charges of $5.2 million and $8.7 million, respectively, related to its trade name and $17.2 million and $5.7 million, respectively, related to goodwill during the fourth quarter.

During the impairment testing as of October 1, 2018, the Company reassessed the Physician Staffing brand's indefinite-life classification and determined it had characteristics that indicated a definite-life assignment was more appropriate. Effective October 1, 2018, the trade name, with a carrying value of $1.1 million after impairment charges, that was previously assigned an indefinite life was assigned a finite life of 3 years. During the three months ended December 31, 2018, the amortization expense related to this trade name was approximately $0.1 million.