Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheets (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Aug. 31, 2016	Aug. 31, 2015	Aug. 31, 2014	Aug. 31, 2013
ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 179,604	$ 168,846	$ 109,012	$ 103,986
Accounts receivable, net	186,829	193,081
Inventories, net	130,756	142,752
Deferred income taxes	0	12,922
Other current assets	45,463	42,788
Total current assets	542,652	560,389
Property, plant & equipment, net	114,015	142,458
Goodwill	519,276	608,256	742,770
Other intangibles, net	239,475	308,762
Investment in subsidiaries	0	0
Intercompany receivable	0	0
Other long-term assets	27,120	17,052
Total assets	1,442,538	1,636,917
LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Trade accounts payable	115,051	118,115
Accrued compensation and benefits	46,901	43,707
Current maturities of debt and short-term borrowings	18,750	3,969
Income taxes payable	9,254	14,805
Other current liabilities	51,956	54,460
Total current liabilities	241,912	235,056
Long-term Debt, Excluding Current Maturities	565,559	584,309
Deferred income taxes	31,356	72,941
Pension and postretirement benefit liabilities	25,667	17,828
Other long-term liabilities	57,094	53,782
Intercompany payable	0
Shareholders’ equity	520,950	673,001	1,001,711	$ 1,080,267
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity	1,442,538	1,636,917
Parent
ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents	7,953	18,688	27,931
Accounts receivable, net	13,692	16,135
Inventories, net	19,897	23,074
Deferred income taxes		9,256
Other current assets	7,754	18,020
Total current assets	49,296	85,173
Property, plant & equipment, net	5,927	6,363
Goodwill	38,847	38,847
Other intangibles, net	9,429	10,702
Investment in subsidiaries	1,915,367	2,067,438
Intercompany receivable	0	0
Other long-term assets	9,580	10,694
Total assets	2,028,446	2,219,217
LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Trade accounts payable	11,529	14,700
Accrued compensation and benefits	17,506
Current maturities of debt and short-term borrowings	18,750
Income taxes payable	1,886	10,947
Other current liabilities	20,459	19,817
Total current liabilities	70,130	65,693
Long-term Debt, Excluding Current Maturities	565,559	584,309
Deferred income taxes	30,666	43,210
Pension and postretirement benefit liabilities	16,803	11,712
Other long-term liabilities	47,739	46,407
Intercompany payable	776,599
Shareholders’ equity	520,950
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity	2,028,446
Guarantors
ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents	71	567	3,487
Accounts receivable, net	41,715	49,258
Inventories, net	44,283	55,151
Deferred income taxes		0
Other current assets	3,858	4,708
Total current assets	89,927	109,684
Property, plant & equipment, net	23,511	33,675
Goodwill	200,499	318,088
Other intangibles, net	149,757	173,497
Investment in subsidiaries	578,423	632,581
Intercompany receivable	1,159,672	1,140,030
Other long-term assets	10	0
Total assets	2,201,799	2,407,555
LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Trade accounts payable	20,669	27,767
Accrued compensation and benefits	5,754
Current maturities of debt and short-term borrowings	0
Income taxes payable	0	0
Other current liabilities	6,989	5,807
Total current liabilities	33,412	37,199
Long-term Debt, Excluding Current Maturities	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Pension and postretirement benefit liabilities	0	0
Other long-term liabilities	588	400
Intercompany payable	0
Shareholders’ equity	2,167,799
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity	2,201,799
Non-Guarantors
ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents	171,580	149,591	$ 77,594
Accounts receivable, net	131,422	127,688
Inventories, net	66,576	64,527
Deferred income taxes		3,666
Other current assets	33,851	20,060
Total current assets	403,429	365,532
Property, plant & equipment, net	84,577	102,420
Goodwill	279,930	251,321
Other intangibles, net	80,289	124,563
Investment in subsidiaries	465,736	182,001
Intercompany receivable	0	45,141
Other long-term assets	17,530	6,358
Total assets	1,331,491	1,077,336
LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Trade accounts payable	82,853	75,648
Accrued compensation and benefits	23,641
Current maturities of debt and short-term borrowings	0
Income taxes payable	7,368	3,858
Other current liabilities	24,508	28,836
Total current liabilities	138,370	132,164
Long-term Debt, Excluding Current Maturities	0	0
Deferred income taxes	690	29,731
Pension and postretirement benefit liabilities	8,864	6,116
Other long-term liabilities	8,767	6,975
Intercompany payable	383,073
Shareholders’ equity	791,727
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity	1,331,491
Consolidation, Eliminations
ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents	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 & equipment, net	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Other intangibles, net	0	0
Investment in subsidiaries	(2,959,526)	(2,882,020)
Intercompany receivable	(1,159,672)	(1,185,171)
Other long-term assets	0	0
Total assets	(4,119,198)	(4,067,191)
LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Trade accounts payable	0	0
Accrued compensation and benefits	0
Current maturities of debt and short-term borrowings	0
Income taxes payable	0	0
Other current liabilities	0	0
Total current liabilities	0	0
Long-term Debt, Excluding Current Maturities	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Pension and postretirement benefit liabilities	0	0
Other long-term liabilities	0	$ 0
Intercompany payable	(1,159,672)
Shareholders’ equity	(2,959,526)
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity	$ (4,119,198)