Background and Basis of Presentation

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2018

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

BACKGROUND AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION

BACKGROUND AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION

Background

Platform Specialty Products Corporation was incorporated in Delaware in January 2014 and its shares of common stock, par value $0.01 per share, trade on the NYSE under the ticker symbol “PAH.”

Platform is a global and diversified producer of high-technology specialty chemical products. Platform's business involves the blending of a number of key ingredients to produce proprietary formulations. The Company operates in a wide variety of niche markets across multiple industries, including automotive, electronics, graphics, and offshore oil and gas production and drilling. Platform delivers its products to customers through its sales and service workforce, regional distributors, and manufacturing representatives.

Platform has leading positions in niche segments of high-growth markets. The Company continually seeks opportunities to grow and enhance its strategic position by pursuing inorganic initiatives and focusing on specialty chemical businesses or assets within existing or complementary end-markets, particularly those meeting its “Asset-Lite, High-Touch” philosophy, which involves prioritizing resources to research and development, offering highly-technical sales and customer service, and managing conservatively its capital investments. Platform regularly reviews acquisition opportunities and may acquire businesses that meet its acquisition criteria when it deems it to be financially prudent.

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and related information in this Quarterly Report include the accounts of Platform and all of its controlled subsidiaries, and have been prepared on a basis that is substantially consistent with the accounting principles applied in the Company’s 2017 Annual Report. In the opinion of management, these unaudited interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements reflect all adjustments that are normal, recurring and necessary for a fair presentation of the Company's financial position, results of operations and cash flows for interim periods, but are not necessarily indicative of the results of operations that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2018. 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 2017 Annual Report.

On July 20, 2018, the Company entered into the Arysta Sale Agreement to sell its Agricultural Solutions business to UPL for $4.20 billion. Accordingly, Agricultural Solutions' assets, liabilities, operating results and cash flows for all periods presented have been classified as discontinued operations within the unaudited interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements. See Note 4, Discontinued Operations, for information related to Agricultural Solutions. Subject to the covenants, events of default and provisions discussed in Note 8, Debt, the Company's existing Senior Notes and term loans are not required to be immediately redeemed or repaid in connection with the Announced Arysta Sale. As such, the related liabilities and interest expense are not included in discontinued operations and therefore fully burden continuing operations.

The process of preparing the Company’s unaudited interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements requires the use of estimates and judgments that affect the reported amount of assets, liabilities, net sales and expenses. These estimates and judgments are based on historical experience, future expectations and other factors as well as assumptions the Company believes to be reasonable under the circumstances. These estimates and judgments are reviewed on an ongoing basis and revised as necessary. Actual amounts may differ materially from these estimates.

Certain other prior year amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current year’s presentation.