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Description of Business, Basis of Presentation and Recent Accounting Pronouncements (Policies) | 3 Months Ended
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Dec. 30, 2012
Description of the Business | Description of the Business Harbinger Group Inc. (“HGI” and, collectively with its respective subsidiaries, the “Company”) is a diversified holding company, the outstanding common stock of which is 76.7% and 74.6% owned, respectively, as of December 30, 2012 and the date of this filing, collectively, by Harbinger Capital Partners Master Fund I, Ltd. (the “Master Fund”), Global Opportunities Breakaway Ltd. and Harbinger Capital Partners Special Situations Fund, L.P. (together, the “Principal Stockholders”), not giving effect to the conversion rights of the Company’s Series A Participating Convertible Preferred Stock (the “Series A Preferred Stock”) or the Series A-2 Participating Convertible Preferred Stock (the “Series A-2 Preferred Stock”, together the “Preferred Stock”). Such common stock ownership by the Principal Stockholders represents a voting interest of 57.2% in relation to the existing voting rights of all HGI’s common and preferred stockholders. HGI’s shares of common stock trade on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the symbol “HRG.” HGI is focused on obtaining controlling equity stakes in companies that operate across a diversified set of industries and growing acquired businesses. As such, the Company has gained controlling interests in Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc., a Delaware corporation (collectively with its consolidated subsidiaries, where applicable, “Spectrum Brands”), Fidelity & Guaranty Life Holdings, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“FGL”) and Salus Capital Partners, LLC (“Salus”). As of December 30, 2012, the Company’s beneficial ownership of the outstanding common stock of Spectrum Brands was 57.4%. Spectrum Brands is a global branded consumer products company which trades on the NYSE under the symbol “SPB.” FGL, a wholly-owned subsidiary, is a provider of annuity and life insurance products in the United States of America. Salus is a provider of secured asset-based loans to entities across a variety of industries. In addition to acquiring controlling interests, HGI may make investments in debt instruments, acquire minority equity interests in companies and expand its operating businesses. The Company also owns 97.9% of Zap.Com Corporation (“Zap.Com”), a public shell company that may seek assets or businesses to acquire or may sell assets and/or liquidate. In November, the Company announced a joint venture with EXCO Resources Inc. (“EXCO”) to create a private oil and gas limited partnership (the “EXCO/HGI Partnership”) that will purchase and operate EXCO’s producing U.S. conventional oil and gas assets, for a total consideration of $725.0 million (the “EXCO/HGI Production Partners Acquisition”). The Partnership will constitute the Company’s initial operating business in the energy sector. In December 2012, the Company closed a secondary offering, in which the Principal Stockholders offered 20.0 million shares of common stock at a price to the public of $7.50 per share. In addition, in January 2013, the underwriters exercised their option to purchase an additional 3.0 million shares of common stock from the Principal Stockholders. The Company did not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares in this offering. In December 2012, the Company issued $700.0 aggregate principal amount 7.875% Senior Secured Notes due 2019 (the “7.875% Notes”) and used part of the proceeds of the offering to accept for purchase $498.0 aggregate principal amount of its 10.625% Senior Secured Notes due 2015 (the “10.625% Notes”) pursuant to a tender offer (the “Tender Offer”) for the 10.625% Notes. Additionally, the Company deposited sufficient funds in trust with the trustee under the indenture governing the 10.625% Notes in satisfaction and discharge of the remaining $2.0 aggregate principal amount of the 10.625% Notes. The remainder of the proceeds will be used for working capital by the Company and its subsidiaries and for general corporate purposes, including the financing of future acquisitions and businesses. In December, Spectrum Brands acquired the residential hardware and home improvement business (the “HHI Business”) from Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. (“Stanley Black & Decker”), which includes (i) the equity interests of certain subsidiaries of Stanley Black & Decker engaged in the business and (ii) certain assets of Stanley Black & Decker used or held for use in connection with the business (the “Hardware Acquisition”). The HHI Business has a broad portfolio of recognized brands names, including Kwikset, Weiser, Baldwin, National Hardware, Stanley, FANAL and Pfister, as well as patented technologies such as Smartkey, a rekeyable lockset technology, and Smart Code Home Connect. A portion of the Hardware Acquisition has not yet closed, consisting of the purchase of certain assets of Tong Lung Metal Industry Co. Ltd., a Taiwan Corporation (“TLM Taiwan”), which is involved in the production of residential locksets. For information pertaining to the Hardware Acquisition, see Note 13, Acquisitions. Also in December 2012, Spectrum Brands Escrow Corp. issued $520.0 aggregate principal amount of 6.375% Senior Notes due 2020 (the “6.375% Notes”) and $570.0 aggregate principal amount of 6.625% Senior Notes due 2022 (the “6.625% Notes”). The 6.375% Notes and the 6.625% Notes were assumed by Spectrum Brands, in connection with the Hardware Acquisition. Spectrum Brands used the net proceeds from the offering to fund a portion of the purchase price and related fees and expenses for the Hardware Acquisition. Spectrum Brands financed the remaining portion of the Hardware Acquisition with a new $800.0 term loan facility, of which $100.0 is in Canadian dollar equivalents (the “Term Loan”). A portion of the Term Loan proceeds were also used to refinance the former term loan facility, maturing June 17, 2016, which had an aggregate amount outstanding of $370.2 prior to refinancing. Refer to Note 6, Debt, as well as Note 13, Acquisitions, to our Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements. The Company’s reportable business segments are organized in a manner that reflects how HGI’s management views those business activities. Accordingly, the Company currently operates its business in three reporting segments: (i) Consumer Products through Spectrum Brands, (ii) Insurance through FGL and (iii) Other Financial Services. For the results of operations by segment, and other segment data, see Note 16, Segment Data.
Basis of Presentation | Basis of Presentation The accompanying unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements of the Company included herein have been prepared pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The financial statements reflect all adjustments that are, in the opinion of management, necessary for a fair statement of such information. All such adjustments are of a normal recurring nature. Although the Company believes that the disclosures are adequate to make the information presented not misleading, certain information and footnote disclosures, including a description of significant accounting policies normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“US GAAP”), have been condensed or omitted pursuant to such rules and regulations. Certain prior year amounts have been reclassified or combined to conform to the current year presentation. These reclassifications and combinations had no effect on previously reported results of operations or accumulated deficit. These interim financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Company’s annual consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on November 27, 2012 (the “Form 10-K”). The results of operations for the three months ended December 30, 2012 are not necessarily indicative of the results for any subsequent periods or the entire fiscal year ending September 30, 2013.
Presentation of Comprehensive Income | Presentation of Comprehensive Income In June 2011, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update 2011-05, “Comprehensive Income (Topic 220): Presentation of Comprehensive Income,” which amends current comprehensive income guidance. This accounting update eliminates the option to present the components of other comprehensive income as part of the statement of shareholders’ equity. Instead, comprehensive income must be reported in either a single continuous statement of comprehensive income which contains two sections, net income and other comprehensive income, or in two separate but consecutive statements. A deferral of provisions of the guidance requiring disclosure of the income statement location were gains and losses reclassified out of comprehensive income are located was issued in December 2011. In November 2012, the FASB issued a statement of opinion to clarify their position on the reclassification disclosures, allowing disclosure of reclassification adjustments on the face of the comprehensive income statement or in the notes to the financial statements. The Company implemented the new guidance effective October 1, 2012, electing to present comprehensive income in two separate but consecutive statements, however the final disclosure requirements for reclassification adjustments are not effective until the second quarter of Fiscal 2013. The Company has implemented all required disclosures except the deferred reclassification provisions which will be implemented in the second quarter of Fiscal 2013.
Impairment Testing | Impairment Testing Also effective October 1, 2012, the Company implemented new guidance intended to simplify how the Company tests for impairments of goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets. The guidance will allow the Company to first assess qualitative factors to determine whether it is necessary to perform the two-step quantitative impairment tests for goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets. The Company will no longer be required to calculate, respectively for goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets, the fair value of a reporting unit, or the fair value of an indefinite-lived intangible asset, unless the Company determines, based on a qualitative assessment, that it is more likely than not that its fair value is less than its carrying amount. The Company will apply this new guidance upon its annual impairment analysis of its goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets, in August 2013. The Company does not expect the adoption of this guidance to have a significant impact on our consolidated financial statements.
Offsetting Assets and Liabilities | Offsetting Assets and Liabilities In December 2011, the FASB issued amended disclosure requirements for offsetting financial assets and financial liabilities to allow investors to better compare financial statements prepared under US GAAP with financial statements prepared under International Financial Reporting Standards. The new standards are effective for us beginning in the first quarter of our fiscal year ending September 30, 2014. We are currently evaluating the impact of this new accounting guidance on the disclosures included in our consolidated financial statements.
Financial Instruments | The Company’s measurement of fair value is based on assumptions used by market participants in pricing the asset or liability, which may include inherent risk, restrictions on the sale or use of an asset or non-performance risk, which may include the Company’s own credit risk. The Company’s estimate of an exchange price is the price in an orderly transaction between market participants to sell the asset or transfer the liability (“exit price”) in the principal market, or the most advantageous market in the absence of a principal market, for that asset or liability, as opposed to the price that would be paid to acquire the asset or receive a liability (“entry price”). The Company categorizes financial instruments carried at fair value into a three-level fair value hierarchy, based on the priority of inputs to the respective valuation technique. The three-level hierarchy for fair value measurement is defined as follows: Level 1 — Values are unadjusted quoted prices for identical assets and liabilities in active markets accessible at the measurement date. Level 2 — Inputs include quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets, quoted prices from those willing to trade in markets that are not active, or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by market data for the term of the instrument. Such inputs include market interest rates and volatilities, spreads and yield curves. Level 3 — Certain inputs are unobservable (supported by little or no market activity) and significant to the fair value measurement. Unobservable inputs reflect the Company’s best estimate of what hypothetical market participants would use to determine a transaction price for the asset or liability at the reporting date based on the best information available in the circumstances. In certain cases, the inputs used to measure fair value may fall into different levels of the fair value hierarchy. In such cases, an investment’s level within the fair value hierarchy is based on the lower level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement. The Company’s assessment of the significance of a particular input to the fair value measurement in its entirety requires judgment and considers factors specific to the investment. When a determination is made to classify an asset or liability within Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy, the determination is based upon the significance of the unobservable inputs to the overall fair value measurement. Because certain securities trade in less liquid or illiquid markets with limited or no pricing information, the determination of fair value for these securities is inherently more difficult. However, Level 3 fair value investments may include, in addition to the unobservable or Level 3 inputs, observable components, which are components that are actively quoted or can be validated to market-based sources.
Earnings Per Share | The Company follows the provisions of ASC Topic 260, Earnings Per Share, which requires companies with complex capital structures, such as having two (or more) classes of securities that participate in declared dividends to calculate earnings (loss) per share (“EPS”) utilizing the two-class method. As the holders of the Preferred Stock are entitled to receive dividends with common stock on an as-converted basis, the Preferred Stock has the right to participate in undistributed earnings and must therefore be considered under the two-class method.

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