Stagwell IncSTGW
Stagwell Inc Goodwill & Intangibles Disclosure
Goodwill and Intangible Assets
On September 30, 2025, the Company reorganized its organizational structure to better reflect how the Company manages its business and goes to market, to simplify reporting and to provide clearer visibility into performance trends across its service offerings. See Note 18 of the Notes included herein for additional information.
In accordance with ASC 350-20, Intangibles—Goodwill and Other: Goodwill, when changes occur in the composition of reporting units, the Company is required to reallocate goodwill to the affected reporting units using a relative fair value approach and perform goodwill impairment testing for impacted reporting units both immediately before and after the reorganization. As part of the reorganization, goodwill was reallocated using the income approach, which incorporated the use of the DCF method. The Company performed the required goodwill impairment assessments as of the date of the reorganization and during its annual impairment testing on October 1, 2025. The assessment indicated that the estimated fair value of each impacted reporting unit exceeded its carrying amount both immediately prior to and immediately subsequent to the reallocation of goodwill. Accordingly, no goodwill impairment was recognized. The Company recast the carrying amount of goodwill to align with the new segment structure for comparative purpose.
The following table presents the Company’s recast of goodwill as reported on the Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31:
| Marketing Services | Digital Transformation | Media & Commerce | Communications | The Marketing Cloud | Total | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance at December 31, 2023 | $ | 501,076 | $ | 303,263 | $ | 416,052 | $ | 229,475 | $ | 48,949 | $ | 1,498,815 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Acquired goodwill | 13,845 | — | 368 | 23,520 | 38,175 | 75,908 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disposition | — | — | — | — | (7,699) | (7,699) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Foreign currency translation | (7,015) | — | (2,660) | (2,516) | 35 | (12,156) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other (1) | 9 | (731) | — | — | — | (722) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance at December 31, 2024 | $ | 507,915 | $ | 302,532 | $ | 413,760 | $ | 250,479 | $ | 79,460 | $ | 1,554,146 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Acquired goodwill | 11,881 | 6,184 | — | — | — | 18,065 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disposition | (5,684) | — | — | — | — | (5,684) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Foreign currency translation | 10,849 | 1 | 6,678 | 2,433 | 4,395 | 24,356 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other (1) | — | — | — | 266 | 4,089 | 4,355 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance at December 31, 2025 | $ | 524,961 | $ | 308,717 | $ | 420,438 | $ | 253,178 | $ | 87,944 | $ | 1,595,238 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
(1) Includes adjustments associated with the finalization of purchase price accounting for acquisitions.
The following presents the Company’s gross and net amounts of intangible assets other than goodwill as reported on the Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31:
| Intangible Assets | 2025 | 2024 | ||||||||||||
Customer relationships, gross | $ | 960,667 | $ | 939,227 | ||||||||||
| Accumulated amortization | (380,115) | (293,581) | ||||||||||||
| Customer relationships, net | $ | 580,552 | $ | 645,646 | ||||||||||
| Trade names, gross | $ | 215,500 | 208,549 | |||||||||||
| Accumulated amortization | (112,192) | (94,687) | ||||||||||||
| Trade names, net | $ | 103,308 | $ | 113,862 | ||||||||||
| Capitalized software, gross | $ | 206,280 | $ | 104,017 | ||||||||||
| Accumulated amortization | (85,540) | (49,597) | ||||||||||||
| Capitalized software, net | $ | 120,740 | $ | 54,420 | ||||||||||
| Developed technology and other, gross | $ | 54,688 | $ | 37,890 | ||||||||||
| Accumulated amortization | (25,040) | (15,035) | ||||||||||||
| Developed technology and other, net | $ | 29,648 | $ | 22,855 | ||||||||||
| Total intangible assets, gross | $ | 1,437,135 | $ | 1,289,683 | ||||||||||
| Accumulated amortization | (602,887) | (452,900) | ||||||||||||
| Total intangible assets, net | $ | 834,248 | $ | 836,783 | ||||||||||
The weighted average amortization period for customer relationships is fourteen years, trade names is twelve years, capitalized software is three years, and developed technology and other intangible assets is four years. In total, the weighted average amortization period is thirteen years. Amortization expense related to amortizable intangible assets for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024, and 2023 was $145.4 million, $121.6 million, and $112.2 million, respectively.
The estimated amortization expense for the five succeeding years is as follows:
| Year | Amortization | |||||||
| 2026 | $ | 148,450 | ||||||
| 2027 | 138,301 | |||||||
| 2028 | 113,073 | |||||||
| 2029 | 92,389 | |||||||
| 2030 | 70,244 | |||||||
| Thereafter | 271,791 | |||||||
Total | $ | 834,248 | ||||||
Historical Timeline
| Fiscal Year | Filed | |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Mar 13, 2026 | Showing above |
| 2024 | Mar 11, 2025 | |
| 2023 | Mar 11, 2024 | |
| 2022 | Mar 6, 2023 | |
| 2021 | Mar 17, 2022 | |
| 2020 | Mar 16, 2021 | |
| 2019 | Mar 5, 2020 | |
| 2018 | Mar 18, 2019 | |
| 2017 | Mar 1, 2018 | |
| 2016 | Mar 1, 2017 | |
| 2015 | Feb 26, 2016 | |
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.