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INVESTMENT IN UNCONSOLIDATED AFFILIATES
12 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2023
Equity Method Investments and Joint Ventures [Abstract]  
INVESTMENT IN UNCONSOLIDATED AFFILIATES INVESTMENT IN UNCONSOLIDATED AFFILIATES On December 31, 2020, the Company acquired a 50% equity interest in Bonnie Plants, LLC, a joint venture with AFC focused on planting, growing, developing, distributing, marketing and selling live plants, in exchange for cash payments of $102.3, as well as non-cash investing activities that included forgiveness of the Company’s outstanding loan receivable with AFC and surrender of the Company’s options to increase its economic interest in the Bonnie Plants business. The Company recorded a gain of $12.5 during the first quarter of fiscal 2021 to write-up the value of its loan receivable with AFC to its closing date fair value in the “Other non-operating income, net” line in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. The Company’s interest in Bonnie Plants, LLC is recorded in the “Investment in unconsolidated affiliates” line in the Consolidated Balance Sheets. During the three months ended December 31, 2022, the Company and AFC amended the joint venture agreement to allow AFC to make an additional equity contribution to Bonnie Plants, LLC, and, as a result of this contribution by AFC, the Company’s equity interest in Bonnie Plants, LLC was reduced to 45%. The Company’s interest is accounted for using the equity method of accounting, with the Company’s proportionate share of Bonnie Plants, LLC earnings subsequent to December 31, 2020 reflected in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. On November 7, 2023, the Company purchased an additional 5% equity interest in Bonnie Plants, LLC from AFC for $21.4, bringing its total equity interest back to 50%.
During fiscal 2023, the Company recorded a non-cash, pre-tax impairment charge of $94.7 associated with its investment in Bonnie Plants, LLC in the “Equity in (income) loss of unconsolidated affiliates” line in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. The impairment was driven by revisions to the Company’s internal forecasts for Bonnie Plants, LLC in response to decreased sales volume and inflationary cost pressures. The estimated fair value of Bonnie Plants, LLC was based upon an equal weighting of the income-based and market-based approaches, utilizing estimated cash flows and a terminal value, discounted at a rate of return that reflects the relative risk of the cash flows, as well as valuation multiples derived from comparable publicly traded companies that are applied to operating performance of the investment. The fair value estimate utilizes significant unobservable inputs and thus represents a Level 3 fair value measurement.
As a result of the impairment charge recorded by the Company during fiscal 2023, the carrying value of the Company’s equity method investment was lower than its interest in Bonnie Plants, LLC’s underlying net assets as of September 30, 2023. Of this basis difference, the majority relates to goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets recorded by Bonnie Plants, LLC, which are not amortized. The remaining amount relates to long-lived assets, including finite-lived intangible assets, and will be amortized over the remaining useful life of the long-lived assets.
The Company recorded equity in (income) loss of unconsolidated affiliates associated with Bonnie Plants, LLC of $101.1, $12.9 and $(14.4) during fiscal 2023, fiscal 2022 and fiscal 2021, respectively. The Company also received a distribution of $12.0 from Bonnie Plants, LLC during fiscal 2021, which was classified as an operating activity in the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows.