Discontinued Operations

6 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2015

Discontinued Operations [Abstract]

Discontinued Operations

3. DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS

During the second quarter of 2012, the Board of Directors authorized the sale of our Homecare business which has been accounted for as a discontinued operation.

In the third quarter of 2012, we sold the majority of our Homecare business to The Linde Group for sale proceeds of €590 million ($777) and recognized a gain of $207.4 ($150.3 after-tax, or $.70 per share). Additionally, during the third quarter of 2012, an impairment charge of $33.5 ($29.5 after-tax, or $.14 per share) was recorded to write down the remaining business, which was primarily in the United Kingdom and Ireland, to its estimated net realizable value. In the fourth quarter of 2013, an additional charge of $18.7 ($13.6 after-tax, or $.06 per share) was recorded to update our estimate of the net realizable value.In the first quarter of 2014, we sold the remaining portion of the Homecare businessfor £6.1 million ($9.8) and recorded a gain on sale of $2.4. We entered into an operations guarantee related to the obligations under certain homecare contracts assigned in connection with the transaction. Our maximum potential payment under the guarantee is £20 million (approximately $30 at 31 March 2015), and our exposure will be extinguished by 2020. The fair value of the guarantee is not material.