Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets

9 Months Ended

May 02, 2020

Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Abstract]

Goodwill and Other Indefinite-lived Intangible Assets Impairment Assessment

Fiscal 2020 Third Quarter Interim Impairment Assessment

The third quarter of Fiscal 2020 reflected a significant decline in the Company’s stock price and the fair value of our Term Loan debt due to the financial market uncertainty from COVID-19 which also resulted in the closure of our retail stores and led to a substantial decrease in our retail store revenue. The Company concluded that these factors represented impairment indicators which required the Company to test its goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets for impairment during the third quarter of Fiscal 2020.

As a result, the Company performed its second interim test of goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets for Fiscal 2020 (the “April Interim Test”) using a quantitative approach as of May 2, 2020, which was the last day of the third fiscal quarter. The April Interim Test was determined by the Company only using the income approach (discounted cash flow method ("DCF")) as the market approach (guideline public company method) was deemed unrepresentative due to the volatility and disruption in the global financial markets caused by COVID-19. The Company believes that the income approach (Level 3 measurement) is the most reliable indication of value as it captures forecasted revenues and earnings for the reporting units in the projection period that the market approach may not directly incorporate. Finally, the Company’s publicly traded market capitalization was reconciled to the sum of the fair value of the reporting units.

The projections used in the April Interim Test reflect revised assumptions across certain key areas versus the assumptions used in the January Interim Test of Fiscal 2020 discussed below and primarily reflected revised long-range assumptions that were prepared in contemplation of the Chapter 11 Cases discussed earlier. Those assumptions include the wind down of the Catherines brand, a significant reduction in the number of Justice retail stores, an overall reductions in the number of retail stores at the Company’s other brands, and a significant reduction in the Company’s workforce commensurate with the store reductions.

Changes in key assumptions and the resulting reduction in projected future cash flows included in the April Interim Test resulted in a decrease in the fair values of our Ann Taylor and LOFT reporting units such that their fair values were less than their carrying values. As a result, the Company recognized the following goodwill impairment charges: a loss of $15.0 million at the Ann Taylor reporting unit and $70.5 million at the LOFT reporting unit to write-down the carrying values of the reporting units to their fair values. In addition, the Company recognized impairment losses to write-down the carrying values of its other intangible assets to their fair values as follows: $17.7 million of our Ann Taylor trade name, $7.8 million of LOFT trade name, $7.8 million of our Justice trade name, $3.0 million of our Catherines trade name and $5.0 million of our Justice franchise rights. The fair value of the trade names was determined using an approach that values the Company’s cash savings from having a royalty-free license compared to the market rate it would pay for access to use the trade name (Level 3

measurement). These impairment losses have been disclosed separately on the face of the accompanying condensed consolidated statements of operations.

Fiscal 2020 Second Quarter Interim Impairment Assessment

The second quarter of Fiscal 2020 marked the continuation of the challenging market environment in which the Company competes. While the Company met its overall expectations for the second quarter, lower than expected comparable sales in the second quarter at the Justice brand, and lower than expected margins at our Ann Taylor brand, along with the expectation that such trends may continue into the second half of Fiscal 2020, led the Company to reduce its level of forecasted earnings for Fiscal 2020 and future periods. Since these brands had little or no excess of fair value over their respective book value at the beginning of Fiscal 2020, the Company concluded that these factors represented impairment indicators which required the Company to test its goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets for impairment during the second quarter of Fiscal 2020 (the "January Interim Test").

The Company performed its January Interim Test of goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets using a quantitative approach as of January 4, 2020, which was the last day in the second month of the second fiscal quarter. The January Interim Test was determined with the assistance of an independent valuation firm using two valuation approaches, including the income approach (discounted cash flow method ("DCF")) and market approach (guideline public company method). The Company believes that the income approach (Level 3 measurement) is the most reliable indication of value as it captures forecasted revenues and earnings for the reporting units in the projection period that the market approach may not directly incorporate. Under the market approach, the Company estimated a fair value based on comparable companies' market multiples of revenues and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, and used the market approach as a comparison of respective fair values. We generally applied a 75% weighting to the income approach and a 25% weighting to the market approach. However, in certain cases where low profit margins made the market approach impracticable, we applied a full weighting to the income approach. Finally, the Company’s publicly traded market capitalization was reconciled to the sum of the fair value of the reporting units.

The projections used in the January Interim Test reflect revised assumptions across certain key areas versus prior plans as a result of the recent operating trends discussed above. Based on the results of the impairment assessment, the fair value of our LOFT reporting unit exceeded its carrying value by approximately 14%.

Changes in key assumptions and the resulting reduction in projected future cash flows included in the January Interim Test resulted in a decrease in the fair values of our Ann Taylor and Justice reporting units such that their fair values were less than their carrying values. As a result, the Company recognized the following goodwill impairment charges: a loss of $54.9 million at the Ann Taylor reporting unit and $8.5 million at the Justice reporting unit to write down the carrying values of the reporting units to their fair values. In addition, the Company recognized impairment losses to write down the carrying values of its other intangible assets to their fair values as follows: $10.0 million of our Ann Taylor trade name, $35.0 million of our Justice trade name, $1.0 million of our Catherines trade name and $0.9 million of our Justice franchise rights. The fair value of the trade names was determined using an approach that values the Company’s cash savings from having a royalty-free license compared to the market rate it would pay for access to use the trade name (Level 3 measurement). These impairment losses have been disclosed separately on the face of the accompanying condensed consolidated statements of operations.

The total combined goodwill impairment charges of $148.9 million resulting from the April Interim Test and the January Interim Test were treated as non-deductible for income tax purposes.

Fiscal 2019 Interim Impairment Assessment

The third quarter of Fiscal 2019 marked the continuation of the challenging market environment in which the Company competes. Continued declines in customer traffic across the Company's brands negatively impacted our February and March performance causing lower comparative sales than expected, along with the expectation that such trends may continue into the fourth quarter. The Company concluded that these factors, as well as the significant decline in the Company's stock price, represented impairment indicators which required the Company to test its goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets for impairment during the third quarter of Fiscal 2019 (the "Fiscal 2019 Interim Test").

As a result, the Company performed its Fiscal 2019 Interim Test of goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets using a quantitative approach as of April 6, 2019, which was the last day in the second month of the third fiscal quarter. The Fiscal

2019 Interim Test was determined with the assistance of an independent valuation firm using two valuation approaches, including the income approach (discounted cash flow method ("DCF")) and market approach (guideline public company method). The Company believes that the income approach (Level 3 measurement) is the most reliable indication of value as it captures forecasted revenues and earnings for the reporting units in the projection period that the market approach may not directly incorporate. Therefore, a greater weighting was applied to the income approach than the market approach. The weighing of the fair values by valuation approach (income approach vs. market approach) is generally consistent across all reporting units. For substantially all of the reporting units the income approach was weighted 75% and the market approach 25%. Under the market approach, the Company estimated a fair value based on comparable companies' market multiples of revenues and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, factored in a control premium, and used the market approach as a comparison of respective fair values. The estimated fair value determined under the market approach validated our estimate of fair value determined under the income approach. The only difference to the 75% / 25% weighting was at the Catherines reporting unit where the income approach was weighted 100% as the resulting low profit margins made the market approach impracticable. This approach at Catherines had no impact on the overall conclusion. Further, the Company's maurices reporting unit was valued utilizing the sales price inherent in the Transaction described in Note 2. Finally, the Company’s publicly traded market capitalization was reconciled to the sum of the fair value of the reporting units.

The projections used in the Fiscal 2019 Interim Test reflect revised assumptions across certain key areas versus prior plans as a result of recent operating performance. In particular, sales growth assumptions were significantly lowered at certain brands to reflect the shortfall in actual results versus those previously projected, reflecting the uncertainty of future comparable sales given the sector's dynamic change. Based on the results of the impairment assessment, the fair value of our ANN, Justice and maurices reporting units substantially exceeded their carrying value.

Conversely, the changes in key assumptions and the resulting reduction in projected future cash flows included in the Fiscal 2019 Interim Test resulted in a decrease in the fair values of our Lane Bryant and Catherines reporting units such that their fair values were less than their carrying values. As a result, the Company recognized impairment losses to write down the carrying values of its trade name intangible assets to their fair values as follows: $23.0 million of our Lane Bryant trade name and $2.0 million of our Catherines trade name. The fair value of the trade names was determined using an approach that values the Company’s cash savings from having a royalty-free license compared to the market rate it would pay for access to use the trade name (Level 3 measurement). In addition, the Company recognized the following goodwill impairment charges: a loss of $65.8 million at the Lane Bryant reporting unit and $49.3 million at the Catherines reporting unit to write down the carrying values of the reporting units to their fair values. These impairment losses have been disclosed separately on the face of the accompanying condensed consolidated statements of operations.

As a result of these impairment charges, for the nine months ended May 4, 2019, the Company included an income tax benefit of approximately $6 million in the estimated effective tax rate for Fiscal 2019. The income tax benefit was calculated by applying a statutory rate of approximately 26% to the $25.0 million of impairment of other intangible assets. The $115.1 million impairment of goodwill was treated as non-deductible for income tax purposes and was a significant factor in reducing the Company's effective income tax rate for the three and nine months ended May 4, 2019.

The following details the changes in goodwill for each reportable segment:


	Premium Fashion ^(a)		Kids Fashion ^(b)		Total
	(millions)
Balance at August 3, 2019	$	305.0	$	8.5	$	313.5
Impairment losses	(140.4)		(8.5)		(148.9)
Balance at May 2, 2020	$	164.6	$	—	$	164.6

^(a)Net of accumulated impairment losses of $569.3 million and $428.9 million for the Premium Fashion segment as of May 2, 2020 and August 3, 2019, respectively.

^(b)Net of accumulated impairment losses of $169.4 million and $160.9 million for the Kids Fashion segment as of May 2, 2020 and August 3, 2019, respectively.

Other Intangible Assets

As more fully described in Note 3, favorable leases have been reclassified from Other intangible assets, net to Operating lease right-of-use assets within the condensed consolidated balance sheet due to the recent adoption of ASC 842. Other intangible assets, reflecting the change, as well as the impairments discussed above, now consist of the following:


	May 2, 2020										August 3, 2019
Description	Gross Carrying Amount		Accumulated Amortization		Net		Gross Carrying Amount		Accumulated Amortization		Net
Intangible assets not subject to amortization:	(millions)
Brands and trade names^(a)	$	169.7	$	—	$	169.7	$	252.0	$	—	$	252.0
Franchise rights ^(b)	5.0		—		5.0		10.9		—		10.9
Total intangible assets not subject to amortization	174.7		—		174.7		262.9		—		262.9
Intangible assets subject to amortization:
Proprietary technology	4.8		(4.8)		—		4.8		(4.8)		—
Customer relationships	52.0		(50.7)		1.3		52.0		(46.7)		5.3
Favorable leases	—		—		—		38.2		(29.8)		8.4
Trade names	5.3		(5.3)		—		5.3		(5.3)		—
Total intangible assets subject to amortization	62.1		(60.8)		1.3		100.3		(86.6)		13.7
Total other intangible assets	$	236.8	$	(60.8)	$	176.0	$	363.2	$	(86.6)	$	276.6

^(a)Net of accumulated trade name impairment losses are as follows: $252.7 million of our Ann Taylor trade name, $424.4 million of our LOFT trade name, $243.5 million of our Lane Bryant trade name, $10.0 million of our Catherines trade name, and $59.4 million of our Justice trade name.

^(b) Net of accumulated franchise rights impairment of $5.9 million at our Justice brand.