Special Charges Special Charges	12 Months Ended
Nov. 30, 2013
Special Charges [Abstract]
Special Charges [Text Block]	3. SPECIAL CHARGES In the fourth quarter 2013, we announced a reorganization in parts of the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region to further improve EMEA’s profitability and process standardization while supporting its competitiveness and long-term growth. These actions include the closure of our current sales and distribution operations in The Netherlands, where we will transition to a third-party distributor model to continue to sell the Silvo^® brand, as well as actions intended to streamline selling, general and administrative activities throughout EMEA, including the centralization of shared service activity across the region into Poland. We expect to record a total of approximately $27 million of cash and non-cash charges related to this reorganization. For 2013, we recorded $25.0 million of special charges related to this reorganization, which we have reflected as a separate line in the consolidated income statement. We expect to record approximately $2 million of special charges related to this reorganization in 2014 and to complete the actions by 2015. Of the $25.0 million of special charges recognized in 2013, $15.9 million related to employee severance, $6.4 million to asset write-downs, and $2.7 million to other exit costs. We expect cash expenditures to implement these actions are expected to be approximately $18 million, with the bulk of the spending occurring in 2014, and to realize related annual cost savings of approximately $10 million by 2015. Of the $25.0 million of special charges recorded in 2013, $22.2 million have been recorded in the consumer business segment and $2.8 million have been recorded in the industrial business segment. The $6.4 million asset write-down included in the $25.0 million special charge for 2013 relates to an impairment charge for the reduction in the value of our Silvo brand name in The Netherlands. Our decision to transition to a third-party distributor model to continue to sell the Silvo brand led us to conclude an impairment indicator to the Silvo brand was present. We calculated the fair value of the Silvo brand using the relief-from-royalty method and determined that it was lower than its carrying value. Consequently, we recorded a non-cash impairment charge of $6.4 million as part of the $22.2 million in special charges included in our consumer business segment during the fourth quarter of 2013. The carrying value of the Silvo brand name as of November 30, 2013 is not significant.

3. SPECIAL CHARGES

In the fourth quarter 2013, we announced a reorganization in parts of the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region to further improve EMEA’s profitability and process standardization while supporting its competitiveness and long-term growth. These actions include the closure of our current sales and distribution operations in The Netherlands, where we will transition to a third-party distributor model to continue to sell the Silvo^® brand, as well as actions intended to streamline selling, general and administrative activities throughout EMEA, including the centralization of shared service activity across the region into Poland.

We expect to record a total of approximately $27 million of cash and non-cash charges related to this reorganization. For 2013, we recorded $25.0 million of special charges related to this reorganization, which we have reflected as a separate line in the consolidated income statement. We expect to record approximately $2 million of special charges related to this reorganization in 2014 and to complete the actions by 2015. Of the $25.0 million of special charges recognized in 2013, $15.9 million related to employee severance, $6.4 million to asset write-downs, and $2.7 million to other exit costs.

We expect cash expenditures to implement these actions are expected to be approximately $18 million, with the bulk of the spending occurring in 2014, and to realize related annual cost savings of approximately $10 million by 2015. Of the $25.0 million of special charges recorded in 2013, $22.2 million have been recorded in the consumer business segment and $2.8 million have been recorded in the industrial business segment.

The $6.4 million asset write-down included in the $25.0 million special charge for 2013 relates to an impairment charge for the reduction in the value of our Silvo brand name in The Netherlands. Our decision to transition to a third-party distributor model to continue to sell the Silvo brand led us to conclude an impairment indicator to the Silvo brand was present. We calculated the fair value of the Silvo brand using the relief-from-royalty method and determined that it was lower than its carrying value. Consequently, we recorded a non-cash impairment charge of $6.4 million as part of the $22.2 million in special charges included in our consumer business segment during the fourth quarter of 2013. The carrying value of the Silvo brand name as of November 30, 2013 is not significant.