ATN International, Inc. Goodwill & Intangibles Disclosure
6. GOODWILL AND INTANGIBLE ASSETS
Goodwill
The Company tests goodwill for impairment at each of its reporting units on an annual basis, which has been determined to be as of October 1st. The Company’s reporting units are one level below its operating segments. The Company also tests goodwill between annual tests if an event occurs or circumstances change that indicate that the fair value of a reporting unit may be below its carrying value.
The Company’s qualitative goodwill impairment test includes, but is not limited to, assessing macroeconomic conditions, industry and market considerations, technological changes and trends, and overall financial performance of the reporting unit. The Company’s quantitative test for goodwill impairment involves a comparison of the estimated fair value of a reporting unit to its carrying amount, including goodwill. The Company determines the fair value of a reporting unit using the income approach. The income approach is based on a discounted cash flow (“DCF”) model. The DCF model requires the exercise of significant judgment, including judgments and assumptions about appropriate discount rates and revenue growth. Discount rates are based on a weighted-average cost of capital (“WACC”), which represents the average rate a business must pay its providers of debt and equity. The revenue growth and cash flows employed in the DCF model were derived from internal cash flow forecasts and external market forecasts.
For its annual impairment analysis, as of October 1, 2025, the Company performed a qualitative analysis for the goodwill held in its International Telecom segment. The Company’s analysis concluded that no impairment was necessary in 2025.
During the year ended December 31, 2024, the Company completed an impairment assessment for its US Telecom segment after identifying events that indicate that the fair value of a reporting unit may be below its carrying value. These events included the Company’s continued shift away from wholesale roaming and retail operations towards carrier managed services and fixed broadband services, delays in completing significant network upgrade projects, the conclusion of certain government subsidy programs leading to slower consumer growth, and delays in enterprise sales and delivery. The combination of these events led to the reporting unit being unable to meet key financial and operational forecasted targets. As a result of these events, the Company performed a quantitative analysis for the $35.3 million of goodwill held in its US Telecom segment. The analysis, using an income approach, indicated that book value of reporting unit was above the fair value of the reporting unit. As a result, the Company recorded an impairment of $35.3 million during 2024.
The Company also completed a qualitative analysis of the goodwill held in its International Telecom segment and determined that no impairment was necessary in 2024.
The table below discloses goodwill recorded in each of the Company’s segments and accumulated impairment changes (in thousands):
International | US | | |||||||
Telecom | Telecom | Consolidated | |||||||
Balance at December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2025 | |||||||||
Goodwill | $ | 25,422 | $ | 35,269 | $ | 60,691 | |||
Accumulated Impairment |
| (20,587) |
| (35,269) |
| (55,856) | |||
Goodwill, net of accumulated impairment |
| 4,835 |
| — |
| 4,835 | |||
Telecommunications Licenses
The Company tests those telecommunications licenses that are indefinite-lived for impairment on an annual basis, which has been determined to be as of October 1st. The Company also tests telecommunication licenses that are indefinite-lived between annual tests if an event occurs or circumstances change that indicate that the fair value of a reporting unit may be below its carrying value.
The Company’s qualitative impairment test includes, but is not limited to, assessing macroeconomic conditions, industry and market considerations, technological changes and trends, overall financial performance, and legal and regulatory changes. The Company’s quantitative test for impairment involves a comparison of the estimated fair value of an asset to its carrying amount. The Company determines the fair value using either a market or income approach. The market approach uses prices generated by market transactions involving comparable assets. The income approach uses a DCF model. The DCF requires the exercise of significant judgement including Level 3 valuation inputs.
The Company performed a qualitative assessment for all of its reporting units during its annual impairment assessment of its indefinite lived telecommunication licenses in 2025 and 2024. The assessment determined that there were no indications of potential impairment.
The changes in the carrying amount of the Company’s telecommunications licenses, by operating segment, were as follows (in thousands):
| International | | US | | ||||||
Telecom | Telecom | Consolidated |
| |||||||
Balance at December 31, 2023 | $ | 34,798 | $ | 78,521 | $ | 113,319 | ||||
Acquired licenses |
| — |
| — | — | |||||
Dispositions |
| — |
| — | — | |||||
Balance at December 31, 2024 | $ | 34,798 | $ | 78,521 | $ | 113,319 | ||||
Acquired licenses |
| — |
| — | — | |||||
Dispositions | — | (7,833) | (7,833) | |||||||
Balance at December 31, 2025 | $ | 34,798 | $ | 70,688 | $ | 105,486 | ||||
During 2025, the Company sold certain telecommunication licenses in its US Telecom segment with a book value of $7.8 million for $14 million and recognized a gain of $6.2 million on the disposition.
Customer Relationships
The customer relationships are being amortized on an accelerated basis, over the expected period during which their economic benefits are to be realized. The Company recorded $3.4 million, $6.3 million, and $11.1 million of amortization related to customer relationships during the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024, and 2023, respectively.
Future amortization of customer relationships is as follows (in thousands):
International Telecom | ||
2026 | $ | 576 |
2027 | 576 | |
2028 | 276 | |
2029 | 63 | |
2030 | — | |
Total | $ | 1,491 |
Other Intangible Assets
Other intangible assets includes $6.0 million and $7.1 million of trade names on the Company’s balance sheet as of December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively. The Company recorded $1.2 million, $1.3 million and $1.3 million of amortization related to trade names during each of the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024, and 2023.
The tradenames have definite lives and future amortization of the trade names is as follows:
International Telecom | US Telecom | ||||
2026 | $ | 209 | $ | 769 | |
2027 | 36 | 718 | |||
2028 | — | 657 | |||
2029 | — | 619 | |||
2030 | — | 569 | |||
Thereafter | — | 2,381 | |||
Total | $ | 245 | $ | 5,713 | |
Historical Timeline
| Fiscal Year | Filed | |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Mar 16, 2026 | Showing above |
| 2024 | Mar 17, 2025 | |
| 2023 | Mar 15, 2024 | |
| 2022 | Mar 15, 2023 | |
| 2021 | Mar 16, 2022 | |
About Goodwill & Intangibles Disclosures
Goodwill and intangible asset disclosures reveal the premium paid in acquisitions and how management assesses whether that premium retains its value. Since goodwill is no longer amortized under US GAAP, the annual impairment test is the only mechanism that adjusts carrying values downward — making the assumptions behind that test critically important for investors.
Key signals: a history of goodwill impairments suggests management consistently overpays for acquisitions. Watch the gap between reporting unit fair value and carrying amount — when fair value exceeds carrying amount by less than 10-20%, a small decline in business performance could trigger a write-down. For finite-lived intangibles, examine useful life assumptions across customer relationships, technology, and trade names; aggressive estimates inflate near-term earnings. Compare total intangibles-to-total-assets ratios against peers to assess acquisition dependency. Rising goodwill as a percentage of equity can signal balance sheet fragility.