ACQUISITIONS

12 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2023

Business Combination and Asset Acquisition [Abstract]

On February 18, 2022, the Company acquired all of the membership interests in HPC Brands, LLC, which consist of the home appliances and cookware business of Tristar Products, Inc. (the "Tristar Business") for a purchase price of $325.0 million, net of customary purchase price adjustments and transaction costs, plus a potential earn-out payment of up to $100.0 million if certain gross profit targets are achieved in calendar year 2022, and another earn-out payment of $25.0 million if certain other gross profit targets are achieved in calendar year 2023. The acquisition of the Tristar Business was funded by a combination of cash on hand and incremental borrowings incurred as a new tranche under the Company's existing credit agreement. See Note 12 - Debt for further detail on the amendment to the credit agreement.

The Tristar Business includes a portfolio of home appliances and cookware products sold under the PowerXL®, Emeril Legasse®, and Copper Chef® brands. The PowerXL® and Copper Chef® brands were acquired outright by the Company while the Emeril Legasse® brand remains subject to a trademark license agreement with the license holder (the "Emeril License"). Pursuant to the Emeril License, the Company will continue to license the Emeril Legasse® brands in the US, Canada, Mexico, and the United Kingdom for certain designated product categories of household appliances within the Home and Personal Care ("HPC") segment, including small kitchen food preparation products, indoor and outdoor grills and grill accessories, and cookbooks. The Emeril License had an expiration of December 31, 2023, with options for one-year renewal periods following the initial expiration through December 31, 2025. Under the terms of the agreement, we agreed to pay the license holder a percentage of sales, with minimum annual royalty payments of $1.6 million, that increase to $1.8 million in subsequent renewal periods.

The net assets and operating results of the Tristar Business, since the acquisition date of February 18, 2022, are included in the Company’s Consolidated Statements of Income and reported within the HPC reporting segment for the year ended September 30, 2023.

The Company has recorded an allocation of the purchase price to tangible and identifiable intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed based on their fair values as of the February 18, 2022 acquisition date. The excess of the purchase price over the fair value of the net tangible assets and identifiable intangible assets of $111.1 million was recorded as goodwill, which is deductible for tax purposes. Goodwill includes value associated with profits earned from market and expansion capabilities including the success of new product launches through direct response television and direct to consumer channels, new brand development and products brought to market by the Company, synergies from integration and streamlining operational activities, the going concern of the business, and the value of the assembled workforce.

The calculation of the purchase price is as follows:


(in millions)	Purchase Price
Cash paid at closing	$	314.6
Cash received for purchase price settlement	(42.2)
Contingent consideration	30.0
Total purchase price	$	302.4

As of the transaction date, the Company recorded a contingent consideration liability of $30.0 million to reflect the estimated fair value of the contingent consideration for the earn-out payments. The fair value was determined using a Monte Carlo simulation model to value the earn-out based on the likelihood of reaching specific targets. The fair value measurement is determined based on significant unobservable inputs and thus represents a Level 3 fair value measurement. The key assumptions considered include the estimated amount and timing of projected gross profits, volatility, estimated discount rates, and risk-free interest rate. The inputs and assumptions may not be observable in the market but reflect the assumptions the Company believes would be made by a market participant. After the acquisition date, the Company and the acquired Tristar Business experienced a downturn in operating results attributable to significant shifts in retail customer purchasing resulting from high retail inventory levels and lower replenishment orders, especially with significant mass retail customers, along with continued inflationary cost pressures and incremental margin risk from promotional spending. As a result, the Company has adjusted the forecasted results of the Tristar Business, which impacted the value of the contingent consideration and recognized a gain on remeasurement of contingent consideration of $1.5 million and $28.5 million, during the years ended September 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

The following table summarizes the final fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed as of the date of acquisition:


(in millions)	Purchase Price Allocation
Cash and cash equivalents	$	0.3
Trade receivables, net	45.7
Other receivables	0.4
Inventories	102.0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	4.4
Property, plant and equipment, net	0.4
Operating lease assets	23.3
Goodwill	111.1
Intangible assets, net	95.0
Deferred charges and other	4.8
Accounts payable	(52.5)
Accrued wages and salaries	(0.6)
Other current liabilities	(20.8)

Long-term operating lease liabilities	(11.1)


Net assets acquired	$	302.4

The values allocated to intangible assets and the weighted average useful lives are as follows:

(in millions)

Carrying Amount

Weighted Average Useful Life (Years)

Tradename

66.0

Indefinite

Customer relationships

29.0

13 years

Total intangibles acquired

95.0

The Company performed a valuation of the acquired inventories, tradenames, and customer relationships. The fair value measurements are based on significant inputs not observable in the market, and therefore, represent Level 3 measurements. The following is a summary of significant inputs to the valuation:

Inventory – Acquired inventory consists of branded finished goods that were valued based on the comparative sales method, which estimates the expected sales price of the finished goods inventory, reduced for all costs expected to be incurred in its completion or disposition and a profit on those costs.

Tradename – The Company valued the PowerXL® tradename using an income approach, the relief-from-royalty method. Under this method, the asset value was determined by estimating the hypothetical royalties that would have to be paid if the tradenames were not owned. Royalty rate of 3% for valuation of PowerXL® was selected based on consideration of several factors, including prior transactions, related trademarks and tradenames, other similar trademark licensing and transaction agreements and the relative profitability and perceived contribution of the tradenames. The discount rate applied to the projected cash flow was 16% based on the implied transaction internal rate of return for the overall business, excluding cost synergies. The resulting discounted cash flows were then tax-effected at the applicable statutory rate.

Customer relationships – The Company values customer relationships using the multi-period excess earnings method under a market participant distributor method of the income approach. In determining the fair value of the customer relationships, the multi-period excess earnings approach values the intangible asset at the present value of the incremental after-tax cash flows attributable only to the customer relationship after deducting contributory asset charges. Only expected sales from current retail customers were used, which are estimated using average annual expected growth rate of 2.7%. The Company assumed a customer attrition rate of 5%, which is supported by historical attrition rates. The discount rate applied to the projected cash flow was 12% based upon a weighted average cost of capital for the overall business and income taxes were estimated at the applicable statutory rate.

During the year ended September 30, 2022, the Company has recognized $189.7 million of net sales from the acquired Tristar Business since the transaction date. The following pro forma financial information summarizes the combined results of operations for the Company and the acquired Tristar Business as though the companies were combined as of the beginning of the Company’s fiscal 2021. The unaudited pro forma financial information was as follows:


(in millions)	2022		2021
Proforma net sales	$	3,332.6	$	3,588.1
Proforma net (loss) income from continuing operations	(80.4)		51.4
Proforma net income	69.3		225.7
Proforma diluted earnings from continuing operations per share	(1.96)		1.19
Proforma diluted earnings per share	1.69		5.22

The pro forma financial information includes, where applicable, adjustments for: (i) additional amortization expense that would have been recognized related to the acquired intangible assets, (ii) additional operating expense from the excess fair value adjustments on operating lease assets for below market rents (iv) additional cost of sales related to the inventory valuation adjustment, (v) transaction costs and other one-time non-recurring costs and (vi) the estimated income tax effect on the acquired Tristar Business and pro forma adjustments.

During the year ended September 30, 2022, the Company recognized $13.5 million of transaction costs attributable to the acquisition of the Tristar Business, included in General and Administrative Expense on the Consolidated Statement of Income.