v2.4.0.8

Discontinued Operations | 9 Months Ended
--- | ---
Sep. 30, 2013
Discontinued Operations [Abstract] |
Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations, Disclosure [Text Block] | Discontinued Operations On September 10, 2013, the Company sold its Hardware business (Bulldog®, Ashland™ and Amerock® as well as the Levolor® and private label drapery hardware business) for net cash consideration of $180.4 million. The proceeds are net of $3.9 million of transaction expenses and $2.6 million of cash included in the assets sold. The net assets of the Hardware business were $72.0 million, including $21.2 million of goodwill, resulting in a pretax gain of $108.4 million. In addition, the Company retained approximately $27.0 million of accounts receivable, net of customer-related liabilities, associated with the Hardware business. The cash consideration is subject to adjustment based on a final determination of net working capital transferred to the purchaser. On July 12, 2013, the Company completed the sale of its Teach platform business, including the mimio® and Headsprout® interactive teaching technology brands. The Company recorded $22.7 million of pretax losses during the nine months ended September 30, 2013 relating to the impairments of goodwill, intangibles and other long-lived assets and write-downs of working capital associated with the Teach platform business. The cash consideration received from the sale is subject to adjustment based on a final determination of net working capital transferred to the purchaser. The following table provides a summary of amounts included in discontinued operations (in millions):
| Three Months Ended |  | Nine Months Ended
| September 30, |  | September 30,
| 2013 |  | 2012 |  | 2013 |  | 2012
Net sales | $ | 48.6 |  |  | $ | 78.4 |  |  | $ | 193.4 |  |  | $ | 251.1 |
(Loss) income from discontinued operations before income taxes | $ | (4.9 | ) |  | $ | 1.6 |  |  | $ | (3.8 | ) |  | $ | 10.8 |
Income tax expense (benefit) | 0.7 |  |  | 1.2 |  |  | (0.5 | ) |  | 3.9 |
(Loss) income from discontinued operations | (5.6 | ) |  | 0.4 |  |  | (3.3 | ) |  | 6.9 |
Net gain on disposal (1) | 76.6 |  |  | 1.7 |  |  | 57.9 |  |  | 1.7 |
Income from discontinued operations, net of tax | $ | 71.0 |  |  | $ | 2.1 |  |  | $ | 54.6 |  |  | $ | 8.6 |
(1) Includes pretax gains of $108.8 million (related tax expense of $32.2 million) and $86.1 million (related tax expense of $28.2 million) for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2013, respectively, relating to net gains from sale; impairments and write-offs of goodwill, intangibles and other long-lived assets; and write-downs and write-offs of net working capital. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2012, net gain on disposal includes pretax gains of $5.1 million (related tax expense of $3.4 million) relating to the sale of the hand torch and solder business.

X
- Details
Name: | nwl_DiscontinuedOperationsAbstract
Namespace Prefix: | nwl_
Data Type: | xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition The entire disclosure for the facts and circumstances leading to the completed or expected disposal, manner and timing of disposal, the gain (loss) recognized in the income statement and the income statement caption that includes that gain (loss), amounts of revenues and pretax profit or loss reported in discontinued operations, the segment in which the disposal group was reported, and the classification (whether sold or classified as held for sale) and carrying value of the assets and liabilities comprising the disposal group. Includes all disposal groups, including those classified as components of the entity (discontinued operations). + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) -Number 144 -Paragraph 43-48 -LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy. Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 360 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 3 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6391110&loc=d3e2941-110230 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 205 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6360339&loc=d3e1361-107760 Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 205 -SubTopic 20 -Section 45 -Paragraph 3 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6892542&loc=d3e957-107759 Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 205 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 5 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6360339&loc=d3e1510-107760 Reference 6: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 205 -SubTopic 20 -Section 45 -Paragraph 4 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6892542&loc=d3e1012-107759 Reference 7: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 205 -SubTopic 20 -Section 45 -Paragraph 5 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6892542&loc=d3e1020-107759 Reference 8: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 205 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 3 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6360339&loc=d3e1474-107760 Reference 9: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 360 -SubTopic 10 -Section 45 -Paragraph 5 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=8077374&loc=d3e2443-110228 Reference 10: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 205 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6360339&loc=d3e1436-107760 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_DisposalGroupsIncludingDiscontinuedOperationsDisclosureTextBlock
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration