FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS AND FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS (Policies)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2014

Fair Value of Financial Instruments Policy

Fair Value Estimates

Fair value is the price an asset or liability could be exchanged in an arm’s-length orderly transaction between knowledgeable, able and willing parties that is not a forced sale or liquidation. US GAAP requires significant management estimates in determining fair value. The extent of management’s judgments is highly dependent on the valuation model employed and the observability of inputs to the fair value model. The level of management judgment required in establishing fair value of financial instruments is more significant where there is no active market in which the instrument is traded. For financial instruments that are not remeasured through net income, including the Initial Warrants and the Unit Warrants (see Note 5, "Long-term Debt and Other Financing Arrangements" and Note 14, "Equity"), we estimate fair value at issuance and account for the instrument at amortized cost. For financial instruments that are remeasured through net income, we assess the fair value of the instrument at each period end or earlier when events occur or circumstances change that would so require (see Note 12, "Financial Instruments and Fair Value Measurements").

ASC 820, “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosure”, establishes a hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs to those valuation techniques used to measure fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurements). The three levels of the fair value hierarchy are:

Basis of Fair Value Measurement


Level 1	Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets that are accessible at the measurement date for identical, unrestricted instruments.


Level 2	Quoted prices in markets that are not considered to be active or financial instruments for which all significant inputs are observable, either directly or indirectly.


Level 3	Prices or valuations that require inputs that are both significant to the fair value measurement and unobservable.

A financial instrument’s level within the fair value hierarchy is based on the lowest level of any input that is significant to the fair value measurement.

We evaluate the position of each financial instrument measured at fair value in the hierarchy individually based on the valuation methodology we apply. The carrying amount of financial instruments, including cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, and accounts payable and accrued liabilities, approximate their fair value due to the short-term nature of these items. The fair value of our Senior Debt (as defined therein) is included in Note 5, "Long-term Debt and Other Financing Arrangements".