NOTE 8. BUSINESS COMBINATIONS

The Company made 19 acquisitions during the nine month period ended September 30, 2017, and 34 acquisitions for the year ended December 31, 2016, respectively, as disclosed on various press releases and related Current Reports on Form 8-K.

On August 1, 2017 Rollins, Inc. completed its acquisition of Northwest Exterminating Co., Inc.’s pest control business. Based in Marietta, Ga., Northwest was established in 1951 and services approximately 120,000 customers in Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, and North Carolina. Pest control industry trade publication PCT Magazine listed Northwest as the 17th largest pest control operator in the country in its most recent 2017 list.

The preliminary values of major classes of assets acquired and liabilities assumed recorded at the date of acquisition, as adjusted during the valuation period, are included in the reconciliation of the total consideration as follows (in thousands):

Goodwill from acquisitions represents the excess of the purchase price over the fair value of net assets of businesses acquired. The carrying amount of goodwill was $372.9 million and $255.7 million at September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively. Goodwill generally changes due to the timing of acquisitions, finalization of allocation of purchase prices of previous acquisitions and foreign currency translations. The carrying amount of goodwill in foreign countries was $46.4 million at September 30, 2017 and $42.7 million at December 31, 2016.

The Company completed its most recent annual impairment analyses as of September 30, 2017. Based upon the results of these analyses, the Company has concluded that no impairment of its goodwill or other intangible assets was indicated.

The carrying amount of customer contracts was $141.4 million and $117.5 million at September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively, and the carrying amount of other intangible assets was $46.0 million and $44.3 million at September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively. The carrying amount of customer contracts in foreign countries was $31.0 million and $29.7 million at September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively and the carrying amount of other intangible assets in foreign countries was $3.6 million and $3.8 million at September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively.

Customer contracts and other amortizable intangible assets are amortized on a straight-line basis over their economic useful lives. The following table sets forth the components of intangible assets as of September 30, 2017 (in thousands):