Businesses Held For Sale, Discontinued Operations And Dispositions

3 Months Ended

Nov. 30, 2013

Discontinued Operations and Disposal Groups [Abstract]

Discontinued operations and dispositions

NOTE 6. BUSINESSES HELD FOR SALE, DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS AND DISPOSITIONS

Businesses Held for Sale

The assets and liabilities of businesses classified as held for sale are included in other current assets and accrued expenses on the Company's consolidated balance sheets. The components of assets and liabilities of businesses held for sale are as follows.

(in thousands)	November 30, 2013		August 31, 2013
Assets:
Accounts receivable	$	—	$	20,313
Inventories, net	—		8,713
Other current assets	—		3,683
Property, plant and equipment, net of accumulated depreciation and amortization	1,085		10,459
Assets of businesses held for sale	$	1,085	$	43,168
Liabilities:
Accounts payable-trade	$	—	$	7,615
Accrued expenses and other payables	—		3,251
Liabilities of businesses held for sale	$	—	$	10,866

Discontinued Operations

During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013, the Company decided to sell all of the stock of its wholly owned copper tube manufacturing operation, Howell Metal Company ("Howell"). The Company determined that the decision to sell this business met the definition of a discontinued operation. As a result, the Company included Howell in discontinued operations for all periods presented.

During fiscal 2012, the Company announced its decision to exit the steel pipe manufacturing operations in Croatia ("CMCS") by closure of the facility and sale of the assets. The Company determined that the decision to exit this business met the definition of a discontinued operation. As a result, the Company included CMCS in discontinued operations for all periods presented. The Company sold a majority of CMCS' assets during fiscal 2012. The remaining assets were sold during the first quarter of fiscal 2013 for $3.9 million with no impact to the consolidated statements of operations.

Financial information for discontinued operations was as follows:

	Three Months Ended November 30,
(in thousands)	2013		2012
Net Sales	$	17,298	$	39,711
Earnings from discontinued operations before income taxes	22,845		1,250

Dispositions

On October 17, 2013, the Company sold all of the stock of Howell for $58.5 million, of which $4.2 million is held in escrow, subject to customary purchase price adjustments, resulting in a pre-tax gain of $23.8 million. Howell was previously an operating segment included in the Americas Mills reporting segment.

During the first quarter of fiscal 2013, the Company completed the sale of its 11% ownership interest in Trinecke Zelezarny, a.s. ("Trinecke"), a Czech Republic joint-stock company, for $29.0 million resulting in a pre-tax gain of $26.1 million. The Trinecke investment was included in the International Marketing and Distribution reporting segment.