GOODWILL AND OTHER INTANGIBLE ASSETS

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2020

Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Abstract]

Goodwill. Assets and liabilities acquired in a business combination are recorded at their estimated fair values as of the acquisition date. The excess of the purchase price of the acquisition over the fair value of net assets acquired is recorded as goodwill.

Changes in the carrying amount of goodwill for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020 and September 30, 2019 were as follows:


	Three months ended				Nine months ended
	September 30,				September 30,
(Dollars in thousands)	2020		2019		2020		2019
Balance at beginning of period	$	937,771	$	879,727	$	937,771	$	880,251
Goodwill resulting from business combinations	0		57,962		0		57,438
Balance at end of period	$	937,771	$	937,689	$	937,771	$	937,689

During the third quarter of 2019, First Financial recorded $58.0 million of additions to goodwill resulting from the Bannockburn acquisition. In the first quarter of 2019, First Financial recorded its final adjustments to goodwill related to the 2018 MSFG merger. For further detail on the acquisition of Bannockburn, see Note 17 - Business Combinations.

Goodwill is evaluated for impairment on an annual basis as of October 1 of each year, or whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the fair value of a reporting unit may be below its carrying value. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the related deterioration in general economic conditions, First Financial performed an interim qualitative impairment test as of September 30, 2020. The results of this interim qualitative test did not indicate that the Company's goodwill was impaired as of September 30, 2020. First Financial will continue to monitor the status of its goodwill and

intangible assets for signs of further deterioration and potential impairment. First Financial performed its annual impairment test as of October 1, 2019 and no impairment was indicated at that time.

Other intangible assets. Other intangible assets consist primarily of core deposit, customer list and other miscellaneous intangibles.

Core deposit intangibles represent the estimated fair value of acquired customer deposit relationships on the date of acquisition and are amortized on an accelerated basis over their estimated useful lives. First Financial's core deposit intangibles have an estimated weighted average remaining life of 7.3 years.

First Financial recorded a $39.4 million customer list intangible asset in conjunction with the Bannockburn merger to account for the obligation or advantage on the part of either the Company or the customer to continue the pre-existing relationship subsequent to the merger. The customer list intangible asset is amortized on a straight-line basis over its estimated useful life of 11 years.

Other miscellaneous intangibles include purchase commissions, non-compete agreements and trade name intangibles. Other intangible assets are included in Other intangibles in the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Amortization expense recognized on intangible assets for the three months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 were $2.8 million and $2.4 million, respectively. Amortization expense recognized on intangible assets for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 was $8.4 million and $6.5 million, respectively.

The gross carrying amount and accumulated amortization of other intangible assets at September 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019 were as follows:


(Dollars in thousands)	September 30, 2020				December 31, 2019
	Gross carrying amount		Accumulated amortization		Gross carrying amount		Accumulated amortization
Amortized intangible assets
Core deposit intangibles	$	51,031	$	(25,930)	$	51,031	$	(21,149)
Customer list	39,420		(3,883)		39,420		(1,195)
Other	10,093		(3,312)		10,093		(1,999)


Total	$	100,544	$	(33,125)	$	100,544	$	(24,343)