v3.25.1
Goodwill and Intangible Assets
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2024
Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Abstract]  
Goodwill and Intangible Assets

6. Goodwill and intangible assets

The following table represents a roll forward of goodwill balances:

 


 

 

As of December 31,

 

 

 

2024

 

 

2023

 

 

 

 

 

 

As Restated

 

Balance as of beginning of year

 

$

475,814

 

 

$

565,493

 

Additions

 

 

564,657

 

 

 

49,774

 

Disposals

 

 

—

 

 

 

—

 

Impairment

 

 

(66,235

)

 

 

(139,645

)

Effect of exchange rate changes

 

 

(838

)

 

 

192

 

Balance as of end of year

 

$

973,398

 

 

$

475,814

 

As of December 31, 2024, the gross carrying amount and accumulated impairment losses of goodwill were $1.2 billion and $205.9 million, respectively.

Goodwill impairment test

Informa TechTarget tests whether goodwill is impaired at least annually, during the fourth quarter, or when events and circumstances indicate an impairment may have occurred. In conjunction with its annual impairment analysis performed on December 31, 2024, the Company identified a sustained decline in share price into the fourth quarter of 2024 as an impairment trigger for all reporting units. Accordingly, Informa TechTarget, as part of its annual test of goodwill impairment at December 31, 2024, performed a quantitative goodwill impairment assessment on its reporting units using the following key assumptions in the fair value calculations:

•
Projected cash flows: Management used a two-stage valuation approach to project impairment test cash flows, which included key assumptions of forecasted revenue growth rate and EBITDA margin. The first stage consisted of approved projected financial information for a period of three years, followed by a steady state period of long-term growth. Forecasts for the first stage and second stage include management expectations of Informa TechTarget's financial performance with key assumptions of forecasted revenue growth rate and EBITDA margin and represent the best estimate of the future performance of the relevant reporting units.
•
Discount rate: A post-tax discount rate using a weighted average cost of capital methodology. For the cost of debt, Informa TechTarget considered market rates, based on entities with a comparable credit rating. The cost of equity is calculated using the Capital Asset Pricing Model methodology. The discount rates include appropriate risk premiums to reflect additional risks of the specific reporting units being tested.
•
Long-term growth rate: Long-term growth rates are based on external factors such as long-term Consumer Price Index rates and external market reports for the main geographic markets in which each reporting unit operates. Long-term growth rates have not been risk adjusted to reflect any of the business uncertainties noted above, as these uncertainties are already reflected in the discount rates used.
•
Tax rate: For the 2024 reporting period, the tax rate is based on external reports of the weighted-average corporate tax rates for the main geographic markets in which each reporting unit operates.
•
Net working capital rate: The net working capital rate is based on the market participant level of cash free net working capital, and a comparison of guideline public companies.
•
Capital expenditures rate: For the 2024 reporting period, the capital expenditures rate is based on the Company’s historical depreciation expense.

These estimates can be affected by several factors, including general economic, industry, and regulatory conditions; the risk-free interest rate environment; and Informa TechTarget's ability to achieve its forecasted operating results.

During the fourth quarter of 2024, as a result of the lower realized pricing attributable to shifts in the coverage mix for certain products, discontinuation of certain products as a result of the impact of recent legislation, and revised expectations of future selling, advertising, and promotion costs required to mitigate further revenue erosion, the Company’s assessment of future business performance indicated that the Industry Dive reporting unit’s future financial results were below the assumptions used in the last quantitative fair value test as of December 31, 2023. At December 31, 2024, Informa TechTarget

recognized a $66.2 million impairment charge related to its Industry Dive reporting unit, which after the impairment had remaining goodwill of $186.1 million. For the Company’s remaining reporting units, no goodwill impairment was identified as the fair value of each reporting unit was greater than its carrying value at December 31, 2024.

For the year ended December 31 2023, Informa TechTarget performed a quantitative goodwill impairment assessment on its reporting units using the following key assumptions in the fair value calculations:

•
Projected cash flows: Management used a three-stage valuation approach to project impairment test cash flows. The first stage consisted of approved projected financial information for a period of four years, followed by a transitional period of two years of normalization and declining growth rates and, thereafter, a steady state period of long-term growth. Forecasts for the first and the second stage include management expectations of the Business’s financial performance and represent the best estimate of the future performance of the relevant reporting units.
•
Discount rate: A post-tax discount rate using a weighted average cost of capital methodology. For the cost of debt, the Business considered market rates, based on entities with a comparable credit rating. The cost of equity is calculated using the Capital Asset Pricing Model methodology. The discount rates include appropriate risk premiums to reflect additional risks of the specific reporting units being tested.
•
Long-term growth rate: Long-term growth rates are based on external reports on long-term Consumer Price Index rates for the main geographic markets in which each reporting unit operates and therefore are not considered to exceed the long-term average growth prospects for the individual markets. Long-term growth rates have not been risk adjusted to reflect any of business uncertainties noted above, as these uncertainties are already reflected in the discount rates used.

In 2023, Informa TechTarget was affected by macro-economic conditions, in particular the negative impact of rising interest rates on the technology industry, which impacted investment levels and overall marketing expenditure. Informa TechTarget was also impacted by the return of physical events post-COVID, which led to some rebalancing of marketing budgets away from digital marketing into physical events.

As a result, during the first quarter of 2023, when remeasuring the fair value of the contingent consideration related to the acquisition of Industry Dive, a reduction was made to the short-term 2023 revenue forecast for the Industry Dive reporting unit. As this was considered to be an indicator of impairment, a quantitative analysis was undertaken, which concluded that the fair value continued to exceed the carrying value because the long-term projections of Informa TechTarget remained unchanged.

Subsequently, in the second quarter of 2023, with macro-economic conditions remaining challenging, management revised its long-term revenue projections for the Industry Dive business, lowering expectations for its core email and website sponsorship/advertising products to reflect more constrained budgets among key customers. Following this change in assumptions, another quantitative impairment analysis was performed for the Industry Dive reporting unit, which indicated its carrying value now exceeded its fair value. Therefore, an impairment charge of $139.6 million was recognized.

During the 2023 annual goodwill impairment test, there were either no indicators of impairment, or where such indicators existed, the results of the impairment test showed that their fair value exceeded the carrying amount for each reporting unit and therefore no impairment charge was recognized. In 2022, the fair values of the reporting units exceeded their respective carrying amounts, and as such, no impairment charges were recognized.

Fair value assessments of the reporting unit are considered a Level 3 measurement due to the significance of unobservable inputs used in their estimate. For the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, the discount rate used in the impairment test for Industry Dive was 10.5% and 12.1%, respectively. For the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, the long-term growth rate used in the impairment test for Industry Dive was 3.0% and 2.1%, respectively.

Intangible assets

The following tables set forth the information for intangible assets subject to amortization (in thousands):

 

 


 

 

As of December 31, 2024

 

 

Weighted average remaining useful live (years)

 

Gross
Carrying
Amount

 

Accumulated
Amortization

 

Net

Brands and trademarks

 

14.66

 

$174,423

 

$(24,493)

 

$149,930

Customer relationships database

 

15.10

 

608,758

 

(86,121)

 

522,637

Intellectual property

 

6.79

 

158,868

 

(37,240)

 

121,628

Developed technology

 

0.72

 

1,226

 

(1,006)

 

220

Internal-use software

 

3.97

 

21,920

 

(7,603)

 

14,317

Total intangible assets

 

 

 

$965,195

 

$(156,463)

 

$808,732

 

 

 


 

 

As of December 31, 2023

 

 

 

 

As Restated

 

As Restated

 

As Restated

 

 

Weighted average remaining useful live (years)

 

Gross
Carrying
Amount

 

Accumulated
Amortization

 

Net

Brands and trademarks

 

14.66

 

$109,478

 

$(17,614)

 

$91,864

Customer relationships database

 

10.53

 

214,515

 

(56,204)

 

158,311

Intellectual property

 

4.74

 

44,363

 

(29,836)

 

14,527

Developed technology

 

1.32

 

1,309

 

(876)

 

433

Internal-use software

 

0.85

 

5,027

 

(3,960)

 

1,067

Intangible assets subject to amortization

 

 

 

374,692

 

(108,490)

 

266,202

Intangible assets under development

 

 

 

10,342

 

—

 

10,342

Total intangible assets

 

 

 

$385,034

 

$(108,490)

 

$276,544

Amortization expense for intangible assets during the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022 was $48.6 million, $42.2 million and $21.5 million, respectively. Informa TechTarget capitalized internal-use software of $6.5 million, $6.7 million and $2.8 million for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

Future expected amortization expense as of December 31, 2024 is as follows:

 

Years Ended December 31,

 

Amortization
Expense

 

2025

 

$

102,052

 

2026

 

 

97,446

 

2027

 

 

86,954

 

2028

 

 

79,068

 

2029

 

 

73,907

 

Thereafter

 

 

369,305

 

 

 

$

808,732