XML 28 R11.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.24.0.1
BACKGROUND AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2023
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
BACKGROUND AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION BACKGROUND AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION
Background
Element Solutions was incorporated in Delaware in January 2014 and its shares of common stock, par value $0.01 per share, trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “ESI.”
Element Solutions is a leading global specialty chemicals company whose businesses supply a broad range of solutions that enhance the performance of products people use every day. Developed in multi-step technological processes, these innovative solutions enable customers' manufacturing processes in several key industries, including consumer electronics, power electronics, semiconductor fabrication, communications and data storage infrastructure, automotive systems, industrial surface finishing, consumer packaging and offshore energy. Element Solutions businesses provide products that, in substantially all cases, are consumed by customers as part of their production process, providing the Company with reliable and recurring revenue streams as the products are replenished in order to continue production. Element Solutions delivers its products to customers through its sales and service workforce, regional distributors and manufacturing representatives.
The Company's operations are organized in two reportable segments: Electronics and Industrial & Specialty. The reportable segments represent businesses for which separate financial information is utilized by the chief operating decision maker for the purpose of allocating resources and evaluating performance.
Electronics – The Electronics segment researches, formulates and sells specialty chemicals and process technologies for all types of electronics hardware, from complex printed circuit board designs to advanced semiconductor packaging. In mobile communications, computers, automobiles and aerospace equipment, its products are an integral part of the electronics manufacturing process and the functionality of end-products. The segment's "wet chemistries" for metallization, surface treatments and solderable finishes form the physical circuitry pathways, and its "assembly materials," such as SMT, pastes, fluxes and adhesives, join those pathways together. The segment provides specialty chemical solutions through the following businesses: Assembly Solutions, Circuitry Solutions and Semiconductor Solutions.
Industrial & Specialty – The Industrial & Specialty segment researches, formulates and sells specialty chemicals and process technologies that enhance surfaces or improve industrial processes in diverse industrial sectors from automotive trim to transcontinental infrastructure and from high-speed printing to high-design faucets. Its products include chemical systems that protect and decorate metal and plastic surfaces; consumable chemicals that enable printing image transfer on flexible packaging materials; and chemistries used in water-based hydraulic control fluids for offshore energy production. These fully consumable products are used in the aerospace, automotive, construction, consumer electronics, consumer packaged goods and oil and gas production end-markets. The segment provides specialty chemical solutions through the following businesses: Industrial Solutions, Graphics Solutions and Energy Solutions.
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with GAAP and include the accounts of Element Solutions and all of its controlled subsidiaries. The Company consolidates the income, expenses, assets, liabilities and cash flows of its subsidiaries from the date it acquires control or becomes the primary beneficiary. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated upon consolidation.
In preparing the Consolidated Financial Statements in conformity with GAAP, management uses estimates and assumptions that may affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of net sales and expenses during the reporting period. Management applies judgment based on its understanding and analysis of the relevant circumstances, including historical experience and future expectations. These judgments, by their nature, are subject to an inherent degree of uncertainty and, accordingly, actual results could differ significantly from these estimates and assumptions.
The Company transferred operational responsibility of its Films business from its Graphics Solutions business in the first quarter of 2023 and its Industrial Solutions business in the second quarter of 2022, both within its Industrial & Specialty segment, to its Circuitry Solutions business in its Electronics segment. The financial results of this business are not material to the Company's Consolidated Financial Statements. In addition, the Company transferred certain product lines between its
Assembly Solutions business and its Semiconductor Solutions business, both of which are part of its Electronics segment, to align more closely with its current business structure. Historical information has been reclassified to reflect these changes for all periods presented in the Consolidated Financial Statements.
Certain prior year amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current year's presentation.