Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2015
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies	BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES Platform Specialty Products Corporation is a global, diversified producer of high-technology specialty chemical products. The Company's business involves the formulation of a broad range of solutions-oriented specialty chemicals, which are sold into multiple industries, including agrochemical, animal health, electronics, graphic arts, plating, and offshore oil production and drilling. The Company refers to its products as “dynamic chemistries” due to their intricate chemical compositions. As further described in Note 20, Segment Information, the Company operates in two segments: Performance Applications and Agricultural Solutions. Platform was originally incorporated with limited liability under the laws of the British Virgin Islands under the BVI Companies Act on April 23, 2013. Until the MacDermid Acquisition on October 31, 2013, as described below, the Company had neither engaged in any operations nor generated any income. On October 31, 2013, the Company completed the MacDermid Acquisition pursuant to which it indirectly acquired substantially all of the equity of MacDermid Holdings, which, at the time, owned approximately 97% of MacDermid. The Company acquired the remaining 3% of MacDermid on March 4, 2014, pursuant to the terms of the Exchange Agreement. On January 22, 2014, the Company completed its Domestication and on January 23, 2014, the Company's common stock, par value $0.01 per share, began trading on the NYSE under the ticker symbol “PAH.” Basis of Presentation These unaudited interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and related information have been prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP for interim financial information and in accordance with the applicable rules and regulations of the SEC. Accordingly, they do not include all of the disclosures required in connection with annual financial statements. These unaudited interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements reflect all adjustments that are, in the opinion of management, normal, recurring and necessary for a fair statement of the results of operations. These unaudited interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with the Consolidated Financial Statements and the related notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report. The year-end Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet data was derived from audited financial statements, but does not include all footnote disclosures from the annual financial statements. Principles of Consolidation The accompanying unaudited interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements include Platform's accounts and all of its controlled subsidiaries. All subsidiaries are included in the unaudited interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements for the entire period or, if acquired, from the date that the Company obtains control. The Company fully consolidates the income, expenses, assets, liabilities and cash flows of subsidiaries from the date it acquires control up to the date control ceases. All intercompany accounts and transactions were eliminated in consolidation. Significant Accounting Policies Equity Securities Equity securities that have a readily determinable fair value are classified as available for sale and are carried at fair value. Unrealized holding gains and losses are recorded in other comprehensive income. Equity securities which do not have readily determinable fair values are recorded at cost and are evaluated whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying values of such investments may be impaired. Financial Guarantees and Factoring of Accounts Receivable Guarantees provided to financial institutions on vendor and customer loans used to settle outstanding accounts receivable balances are recorded as liabilities until such time when the guarantee periods have elapsed, at which time the accounts receivable balances and the related financial guarantees are reversed. Factoring arrangements, where substantially all economic risks and rewards associated with trade receivables are transferred to a third party, are accounted for by derecognizing the trade receivables upon receipt of cash proceeds from the factoring arrangement. Factoring arrangements, whereby some, but not substantially all, economic risks and rewards are transfered to a third party and the assets subject to the factoring arrangement remain under the Company's control are accounted for by not derecognizing the trade receivables and recognizing any related obligations to the third party. Product Registrations Product registrations represent external costs incurred to obtain distribution rights from regulatory bodies for certain products in our Agricultural Solutions segment. These costs include laboratory testing, legal, regulatory filing and other costs. Only costs associated with products that are probable of generating future cash flows are capitalized. The capitalized costs are amortized over the useful life of the registrations and are included in "Selling, technical, general and administrative" expenses in the Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations and are evaluated for impairment in the same manner as other finite-lived intangible assets. Equity Method Investments Investments over which the Company has the ability to exercise significant influence, but which the Company does not control, are accounted for under the equity method of accounting and are included in "other assets" on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet. Significant influence generally exists when the Company holds between 20% and 50% of the voting power of another entity. Investments are initially recognized at cost. The Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements include the Company's share of net earnings or losses from the date that significant influence commences until the date that significant influence ceases. When the Company's share of losses exceeds its interest in an equity investment, the carrying amount of that interest is reduced to zero, and the recognition of further losses is discontinued, except to the extent that the Company has an obligation or has made payments on behalf of the investee. Revenue Recognition The Company recognizes revenue, including freight charged to customers, net of applicable rebates, estimates for sales returns and allowances and discounts, when the earnings process is complete. This occurs when products have been shipped to or received by the customer, in accordance with the terms of the agreement by and between the Company and such customer, title and risk of loss has been transferred, pricing is fixed or determinable and collectability is reasonably assured. The Company allows certain distributors within the Agricultural Solutions segment one-time, non-repeatable extensions of credit on a limited portion of purchases made during a purchasing cycle, which remain in the distributor’s inventory. The extension of credit is not a right to return, and distributors must pay unconditionally when the extended credit period expires. Accounting Policies Recently Adopted and Pending Pronouncements Business Combinations (Topic 805) - In September 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-16 “Simplifying the Accounting for Measurement-Period Adjustments.” Under the updated guidance, an entity is no longer required to retrospectively apply adjustments to provisional amounts recorded as a part of a business combination. Adjustments to provisional amounts identified during the measurement period continue to be calculated as of the acquisition date but are recognized in the period in which they are determined, including the effects of such adjustments on earnings. The guidance is effective prospectively for fiscal years and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2015, with early adoption permitted. The Company adopted this ASU as of September 30, 2015. This ASU may have a material impact on the Company's future financial statements if material measurement period adjustments are recorded. Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606) - In August 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-14 “Deferral of the Effective Date,” which defers the effective date of ASU No. 2014-09, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606)," for all entities by one year. As a result, the provisions of ASU No. 2014-09 will be effective prospectively for fiscal years and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2017. ASU No. 2014-09 (1) removes inconsistencies and weaknesses in revenue requirements, (2) provides a more robust framework for addressing revenue issues, (3) improves comparability of revenue recognition practices across entities, industries, jurisdictions, and capital markets, (4) provides more useful information to users of financial statements through improved disclosure requirements, and (5) simplifies the preparation of financial statements by reducing the number of requirements to which an entity must refer. The core principle of the guidance is that an entity should recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. The Company continues to evaluate the impact of ASU 2014-09. Inventory (Topic 330) - In July 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-11, “Simplifying the Measurement of Inventory.” Under the updated guidance, an entity should measure inventory at the lower of cost and net realizable value. Net realizable value is defined as the estimated selling price in the ordinary course of business, less predictable costs of completion, disposal, and transportation. The guidance is effective prospectively for fiscal years and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2016, with early adoption permitted. The Company adopted this ASU as of October 1, 2015 by replacing its lower of cost or market test with a lower of cost and net realizable value test. This ASU did not have a material impact on the Company's financial statements. Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820) - In May 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-07, “Disclosures for Investments in Certain Entities That Calculate Net Asset Value per Share (or Its Equivalent).” This update eliminates diversity in practice related to investments whose fair value is measured using net asset values as a practical expedient, and removes the requirement to categorize such investments within the fair value hierarchy. The guidance is effective retrospectively for fiscal years and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2015, with early adoption permitted. The Company continues to evaluate the impact of this new ASU, which is not expected to have a material impact on its financial statements. Intangibles - Goodwill and Other - Internal-Use Software (Subtopic 350-40) - In April 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-05, “Customer's Accounting for Fees Paid in a Cloud Computing Arrangement.” This update provides explicit guidance to customers utilizing a cloud computing solution to help determine whether such an arrangement includes a software license, in which case the accounting applied would be similar to that of other software license arrangements. Otherwise, the arrangement would be accounted for as a service contract. The guidance is effective prospectively for fiscal years and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2015, with early adoption permitted. The Company does not expect this ASU to have a material impact on its financial statements. Interest - Imputation of Interest (Subtopic 835-30) - In April 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-03, “Simplifying the Presentation of Debt Issuance Costs.” This update eliminates the difference in the presentation of debt issuance costs and debt discount and premiums by requiring that debt issuance costs be presented as deductions from the carrying value of the related debt, in a manner similar to debt discounts. The guidance is effective retroactively for fiscal years and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2015, with early adoption permitted. The Company early adopted this ASU, and reclassified approximately $10.3 million of debt issuance costs related to term debt from assets to contra-liabilities as of December 31, 2014. Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815) - In November 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-16, “ Determining Whether the Host Contract in a Hybrid Financial Instrument Issued in the Form of a Share Is More Akin to Debt or to Equity (a consensus of the FASB Emerging Issues Task Force).” Under current practice, there were predominantly two methods used to evaluate whether the nature of the host contract in a hybrid financial instrument is more akin to debt or equity: one considered all the features including the embedded and the other excluded the embedded derivative in the consideration. This update eliminates the difference in practice by clarifying that the evaluation should be based on all the instrument’s features, including the embedded derivative, and that no single term or feature would necessarily determine the economic characteristics and risks of the host contract. The guidance is effective for fiscal years and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2015 and is applied in a modified retrospective basis to existing hybrid financial instruments issued in the form of a share as of the beginning of our fiscal year 2016. Early adoption, including in an interim period, is permitted. The Company adopted the provision of this ASU during the first quarter of 2015, with the issuance of the Series B Convertible Preferred Stock. This ASU did not have a material impact on the Company's financial statements, as there were no hybrid financial instruments requiring retrospective application. Out of Period Adjustment In connection with the preparation of the Company's unaudited interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements for the period ended June 30, 2015, the Company identified a prior period error related to foreign currency accounting within Arysta and purchase accounting for the Arysta Acquisition in accordance with ASC 805 - Business Combinations for the period ended March 31, 2015. The Company determined that goodwill was understated and foreign currency translation adjustment loss was overstated by approximately $73.0 million. Based on an analysis of qualitative and quantitative factors, management has concluded that this error was not material to the Company's unaudited interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements for the period ended March 31, 2015 or June 30, 2015. As a result, the affected balances were corrected in the unaudited interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements for the period ended June 30, 2015. Reclassifications Certain prior year amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current period’s presentation, including approximately $10.3 million of debt issuance costs related to term debt from assets to contra-liabilities as of December 31, 2014 as a result of early adopting ASU 2015-15, “Simplifying the Presentation of Debt Issuance Costs."

BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Platform Specialty Products Corporation is a global, diversified producer of high-technology specialty chemical products. The Company's business involves the formulation of a broad range of solutions-oriented specialty chemicals, which are sold into multiple industries, including agrochemical, animal health, electronics, graphic arts, plating, and offshore oil production and drilling. The Company refers to its products as “dynamic chemistries” due to their intricate chemical compositions. As further described in Note 20, Segment Information, the Company operates in two segments: Performance Applications and Agricultural Solutions.

Platform was originally incorporated with limited liability under the laws of the British Virgin Islands under the BVI Companies Act on April 23, 2013. Until the MacDermid Acquisition on October 31, 2013, as described below, the Company had neither engaged in any operations nor generated any income.

On October 31, 2013, the Company completed the MacDermid Acquisition pursuant to which it indirectly acquired substantially all of the equity of MacDermid Holdings, which, at the time, owned approximately 97% of MacDermid. The Company acquired the remaining 3% of MacDermid on March 4, 2014, pursuant to the terms of the Exchange Agreement. On January 22, 2014, the Company completed its Domestication and on January 23, 2014, the Company's common stock, par value $0.01 per share, began trading on the NYSE under the ticker symbol “PAH.”

Basis of Presentation

These unaudited interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and related information have been prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP for interim financial information and in accordance with the applicable rules and regulations of the SEC. Accordingly, they do not include all of the disclosures required in connection with annual financial statements. These unaudited interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements reflect all adjustments that are, in the opinion of management, normal, recurring and necessary for a fair statement of the results of operations. These unaudited interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with the Consolidated Financial Statements and the related notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report.

The year-end Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet data was derived from audited financial statements, but does not include all footnote disclosures from the annual financial statements.

Principles of Consolidation

The accompanying unaudited interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements include Platform's accounts and all of its controlled subsidiaries. All subsidiaries are included in the unaudited interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements for the entire period or, if acquired, from the date that the Company obtains control. The Company fully consolidates the income, expenses, assets, liabilities and cash flows of subsidiaries from the date it acquires control up to the date control ceases. All intercompany accounts and transactions were eliminated in consolidation.

Significant Accounting Policies

Equity Securities

Equity securities that have a readily determinable fair value are classified as available for sale and are carried at fair value. Unrealized holding gains and losses are recorded in other comprehensive income. Equity securities which do not have readily determinable fair values are recorded at cost and are evaluated whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying values of such investments may be impaired.

Financial Guarantees and Factoring of Accounts Receivable

Guarantees provided to financial institutions on vendor and customer loans used to settle outstanding accounts receivable balances are recorded as liabilities until such time when the guarantee periods have elapsed, at which time the accounts receivable balances and the related financial guarantees are reversed.

Factoring arrangements, where substantially all economic risks and rewards associated with trade receivables are transferred to a third party, are accounted for by derecognizing the trade receivables upon receipt of cash proceeds from the factoring arrangement. Factoring arrangements, whereby some, but not substantially all, economic risks and rewards are transfered to a third party and the assets subject to the factoring arrangement remain under the Company's control are accounted for by not derecognizing the trade receivables and recognizing any related obligations to the third party.

Product Registrations

Product registrations represent external costs incurred to obtain distribution rights from regulatory bodies for certain products in our Agricultural Solutions segment. These costs include laboratory testing, legal, regulatory filing and other costs. Only costs associated with products that are probable of generating future cash flows are capitalized. The capitalized costs are amortized over the useful life of the registrations and are included in "Selling, technical, general and administrative" expenses in the Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations and are evaluated for impairment in the same manner as other finite-lived intangible assets.

Equity Method Investments

Investments over which the Company has the ability to exercise significant influence, but which the Company does not control, are accounted for under the equity method of accounting and are included in "other assets" on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet. Significant influence generally exists when the Company holds between 20% and 50% of the voting power of another entity. Investments are initially recognized at cost. The Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements include the Company's share of net earnings or losses from the date that significant influence commences until the date that significant influence ceases. When the Company's share of losses exceeds its interest in an equity investment, the carrying amount of that interest is reduced to zero, and the recognition of further losses is discontinued, except to the extent that the Company has an obligation or has made payments on behalf of the investee.

Revenue Recognition

The Company recognizes revenue, including freight charged to customers, net of applicable rebates, estimates for sales returns and allowances and discounts, when the earnings process is complete. This occurs when products have been shipped to or received by the customer, in accordance with the terms of the agreement by and between the Company and such customer, title and risk of loss has been transferred, pricing is fixed or determinable and collectability is reasonably assured.

The Company allows certain distributors within the Agricultural Solutions segment one-time, non-repeatable extensions of credit on a limited portion of purchases made during a purchasing cycle, which remain in the distributor’s inventory. The extension of credit is not a right to return, and distributors must pay unconditionally when the extended credit period expires.

Accounting Policies Recently Adopted and Pending Pronouncements

Business Combinations (Topic 805) - In September 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-16 “Simplifying the Accounting for Measurement-Period Adjustments.” Under the updated guidance, an entity is no longer required to retrospectively apply adjustments to provisional amounts recorded as a part of a business combination. Adjustments to provisional amounts identified during the measurement period continue to be calculated as of the acquisition date but are recognized in the period in which they are determined, including the effects of such adjustments on earnings. The guidance is effective prospectively for fiscal years and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2015, with early adoption permitted. The Company adopted this ASU as of September 30, 2015. This ASU may have a material impact on the Company's future financial statements if material measurement period adjustments are recorded.

Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606) - In August 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-14 “Deferral of the Effective Date,” which defers the effective date of ASU No. 2014-09, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606)," for all entities by one year. As a result, the provisions of ASU No. 2014-09 will be effective prospectively for fiscal years and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2017. ASU No. 2014-09 (1) removes inconsistencies and weaknesses in revenue requirements, (2) provides a more robust framework for addressing revenue issues, (3) improves comparability of revenue recognition practices across entities, industries, jurisdictions, and capital markets, (4) provides more useful information to users of financial statements through improved disclosure requirements, and (5) simplifies the preparation of financial statements by reducing the number of requirements to which an entity must refer. The core principle of the guidance is that an entity should recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. The Company continues to evaluate the impact of ASU 2014-09.

Inventory (Topic 330) - In July 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-11, “Simplifying the Measurement of Inventory.” Under the updated guidance, an entity should measure inventory at the lower of cost and net realizable value. Net realizable value is defined as the estimated selling price in the ordinary course of business, less predictable costs of completion, disposal, and transportation. The guidance is effective prospectively for fiscal years and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2016, with early adoption permitted. The Company adopted this ASU as of October 1, 2015 by replacing its lower of cost or market test with a lower of cost and net realizable value test. This ASU did not have a material impact on the Company's financial statements.

Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820) - In May 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-07, “Disclosures for Investments in Certain Entities That Calculate Net Asset Value per Share (or Its Equivalent).” This update eliminates diversity in practice related to investments whose fair value is measured using net asset values as a practical expedient, and removes the requirement to categorize such investments within the fair value hierarchy. The guidance is effective retrospectively for fiscal years and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2015, with early adoption permitted. The Company continues to evaluate the impact of this new ASU, which is not expected to have a material impact on its financial statements.

Intangibles - Goodwill and Other - Internal-Use Software (Subtopic 350-40) - In April 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-05, “Customer's Accounting for Fees Paid in a Cloud Computing Arrangement.” This update provides explicit guidance to customers utilizing a cloud computing solution to help determine whether such an arrangement includes a software license, in which case the accounting applied would be similar to that of other software license arrangements. Otherwise, the arrangement would be accounted for as a service contract. The guidance is effective prospectively for fiscal years and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2015, with early adoption permitted. The Company does not expect this ASU to have a material impact on its financial statements.

Interest - Imputation of Interest (Subtopic 835-30) - In April 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-03, “Simplifying the Presentation of Debt Issuance Costs.” This update eliminates the difference in the presentation of debt issuance costs and debt discount and premiums by requiring that debt issuance costs be presented as deductions from the carrying value of the related debt, in a manner similar to debt discounts. The guidance is effective retroactively for fiscal years and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2015, with early adoption permitted. The Company early adopted this ASU, and reclassified approximately $10.3 million of debt issuance costs related to term debt from assets to contra-liabilities as of December 31, 2014.

Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815) - In November 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-16, “ Determining Whether the Host Contract in a Hybrid Financial Instrument Issued in the Form of a Share Is More Akin to Debt or to Equity (a consensus of the FASB Emerging Issues Task Force).” Under current practice, there were predominantly two methods used to evaluate whether the nature of the host contract in a hybrid financial instrument is more akin to debt or equity: one considered all the features including the embedded and the other excluded the embedded derivative in the consideration. This update eliminates the difference in practice by clarifying that the evaluation should be based on all the instrument’s features, including the embedded derivative, and that no single term or feature would necessarily determine the economic characteristics and risks of the host contract. The guidance is effective for fiscal years and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2015 and is applied in a modified retrospective basis to existing hybrid financial instruments issued in the form of a share as of the beginning of our fiscal year 2016. Early adoption, including in an interim period, is permitted. The Company adopted the provision of this ASU during the first quarter of 2015, with the issuance of the Series B Convertible Preferred Stock. This ASU did not have a material impact on the Company's financial statements, as there were no hybrid financial instruments requiring retrospective application.

Out of Period Adjustment

In connection with the preparation of the Company's unaudited interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements for the period ended June 30, 2015, the Company identified a prior period error related to foreign currency accounting within Arysta and purchase accounting for the Arysta Acquisition in accordance with ASC 805 - Business Combinations for the period ended March 31, 2015. The Company determined that goodwill was understated and foreign currency translation adjustment loss was overstated by approximately $73.0 million. Based on an analysis of qualitative and quantitative factors, management has concluded that this error was not material to the Company's unaudited interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements for the period ended March 31, 2015 or June 30, 2015. As a result, the affected balances were corrected in the unaudited interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements for the period ended June 30, 2015.

Reclassifications

Certain prior year amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current period’s presentation, including approximately $10.3 million of debt issuance costs related to term debt from assets to contra-liabilities as of December 31, 2014 as a result of early adopting ASU 2015-15, “Simplifying the Presentation of Debt Issuance Costs."