Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheets (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	May 31, 2016	Aug. 31, 2015	May 31, 2015	Aug. 31, 2014
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 137,089	$ 168,846	$ 108,125	$ 109,012
Accounts receivable, net	200,102	193,081
Inventories, net	138,456	142,752
Deferred income taxes	0	12,922
Other current assets	60,086	42,788
Total current assets	535,733	560,389
Property, plant and equipment, net	118,228	142,458
Goodwill	529,421	608,256
Other intangibles, net	255,921	308,762
Investment in subsidiaries	0	0
Intercompany receivable	0	0
Other long-term assets	28,117	17,052
Total assets	1,467,420	1,636,917
Current liabilities
Trade accounts payable	120,100	118,115
Accrued compensation and benefits	47,432	43,707
Current maturities of debt and short-term borrowings	15,000	3,969
Income taxes payable	1,249	14,805
Other current liabilities	58,880	54,460
Total current liabilities	242,661	235,056
Long-term debt, less current maturities	573,059	584,309
Deferred income taxes	55,532	72,941
Pension and postretirement benefit liabilities	15,689	17,828
Other long-term liabilities	56,630	53,782
Intercompany payable	0	0
Shareholders’ equity	523,849	673,001
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity	1,467,420	1,636,917
Parent
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	8,199	18,688	9,821	27,931
Accounts receivable, net	13,367	16,135
Inventories, net	22,416	23,074
Deferred income taxes		9,256
Other current assets	13,268	18,020
Total current assets	57,250	85,173
Property, plant and equipment, net	5,641	6,363
Goodwill	38,847	38,847
Other intangibles, net	9,747	10,702
Investment in subsidiaries	1,915,828	2,067,438
Intercompany receivable	0	0
Other long-term assets	9,877	10,694
Total assets	2,037,190	2,219,217
Current liabilities
Trade accounts payable	14,085	14,700
Accrued compensation and benefits	15,801	16,479
Current maturities of debt and short-term borrowings	15,000	3,750
Income taxes payable	0	10,947
Other current liabilities	23,187	19,817
Total current liabilities	68,073	65,693
Long-term debt, less current maturities	573,059	584,309
Deferred income taxes	34,641	43,210
Pension and postretirement benefit liabilities	10,228	11,712
Other long-term liabilities	47,083	46,407
Intercompany payable	780,257	794,885
Shareholders’ equity	523,849	673,001
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity	2,037,190	2,219,217
Guarantors
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	0	523	964	3,325
Accounts receivable, net	33,889	33,748
Inventories, net	29,748	33,480
Deferred income taxes		0
Other current assets	3,187	2,967
Total current assets	66,824	70,718
Property, plant and equipment, net	19,080	23,691
Goodwill	143,690	189,337
Other intangibles, net	98,411	109,665
Investment in subsidiaries	899,892	1,017,418
Intercompany receivable	617,942	619,198
Other long-term assets	7	0
Total assets	1,845,846	2,030,027
Current liabilities
Trade accounts payable	16,096	19,213
Accrued compensation and benefits	4,671	2,952
Current maturities of debt and short-term borrowings	0	0
Income taxes payable	0	0
Other current liabilities	4,937	4,783
Total current liabilities	25,704	26,948
Long-term debt, less current maturities	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Pension and postretirement benefit liabilities	0	0
Other long-term liabilities	593	400
Intercompany payable	0	0
Shareholders’ equity	1,819,549	2,002,679
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity	1,845,846	2,030,027
Non-Guarantors
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	128,890	149,635	97,340	77,756
Accounts receivable, net	152,846	143,198
Inventories, net	86,292	86,198
Deferred income taxes		3,666
Other current assets	43,631	21,801
Total current assets	411,659	404,498
Property, plant and equipment, net	93,507	112,404
Goodwill	346,884	380,072
Other intangibles, net	147,763	188,395
Investment in subsidiaries	87,193	27,552
Intercompany receivable	556,837	565,968
Other long-term assets	18,233	6,358
Total assets	1,662,076	1,685,247
Current liabilities
Trade accounts payable	89,919	84,202
Accrued compensation and benefits	26,960	24,276
Current maturities of debt and short-term borrowings	0	219
Income taxes payable	1,249	3,858
Other current liabilities	30,756	29,860
Total current liabilities	148,884	142,415
Long-term debt, less current maturities	0	0
Deferred income taxes	20,891	29,731
Pension and postretirement benefit liabilities	5,461	6,116
Other long-term liabilities	8,954	6,975
Intercompany payable	394,522	390,281
Shareholders’ equity	1,083,364	1,109,729
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity	1,662,076	1,685,247
Eliminations
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	$ 0	$ 0
Accounts receivable, net	0	0
Inventories, net	0	0
Deferred income taxes		0
Other current assets	0	0
Total current assets	0	0
Property, plant and equipment, net	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Other intangibles, net	0	0
Investment in subsidiaries	(2,902,913)	(3,112,408)
Intercompany receivable	(1,174,779)	(1,185,166)
Other long-term assets	0	0
Total assets	(4,077,692)	(4,297,574)
Current liabilities
Trade accounts payable	0	0
Accrued compensation and benefits	0	0
Current maturities of debt and short-term borrowings	0	0
Income taxes payable	0	0
Other current liabilities	0	0
Total current liabilities	0	0
Long-term debt, less current maturities	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Pension and postretirement benefit liabilities	0	0
Other long-term liabilities	0	0
Intercompany payable	(1,174,779)	(1,185,166)
Shareholders’ equity	(2,902,913)	(3,112,408)
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity	$ (4,077,692)	$ (4,297,574)