Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheets (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Feb. 28, 2017	Aug. 31, 2016	Feb. 29, 2016	Aug. 31, 2015
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 171,890	$ 179,604	$ 154,671	$ 168,846
Accounts receivable, net	201,914	186,829
Inventories, net	127,573	130,756
Other current assets	53,984	45,463
Total current assets	555,361	542,652
Property, plant and equipment, net	115,192	114,015
Goodwill	509,078	519,276
Other intangibles, net	225,559	239,475
Investment in subsidiaries	0	0
Intercompany receivable	0	0
Other long-term assets	21,844	23,242
Total assets	1,427,034	1,438,660
Current liabilities
Trade accounts payable	124,949	115,051
Accrued compensation and benefits	42,363	46,901
Current maturities of debt and short-term borrowings	26,250	18,750
Income taxes payable	1,113	9,254
Other current liabilities	49,229	51,956
Total current liabilities	243,904	241,912
Long-term debt, less current maturities	547,058	561,681
Deferred income taxes	31,037	31,356
Pension and postretirement benefit liabilities	24,142	25,667
Other long-term liabilities	55,884	57,094
Intercompany payable	0	0
Shareholders’ equity	525,009	520,950
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity	1,427,034	1,438,660
Reportable Legal Entities | Parent
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	6,509	7,953	6,480	18,688
Accounts receivable, net	16,364	13,692
Inventories, net	20,486	19,897
Other current assets	8,666	7,754
Total current assets	52,025	49,296
Property, plant and equipment, net	6,801	5,927
Goodwill	38,847	38,847
Other intangibles, net	8,793	9,429
Investment in subsidiaries	1,893,280	1,915,367
Intercompany receivable	0	0
Other long-term assets	5,430	5,702
Total assets	2,005,176	2,024,568
Current liabilities
Trade accounts payable	12,838	11,529
Accrued compensation and benefits	15,032	17,506
Current maturities of debt and short-term borrowings	26,250	18,750
Income taxes payable	1,113	1,886
Other current liabilities	16,710	20,459
Total current liabilities	71,943	70,130
Long-term debt, less current maturities	547,058	561,681
Deferred income taxes	21,503	30,666
Pension and postretirement benefit liabilities	15,863	16,803
Other long-term liabilities	47,024	47,739
Intercompany payable	776,776	776,599
Shareholders’ equity	525,009	520,950
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity	2,005,176	2,024,568
Reportable Legal Entities | Guarantors
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	0	71	0	567
Accounts receivable, net	48,848	41,715
Inventories, net	43,861	44,283
Other current assets	3,540	3,858
Total current assets	96,249	89,927
Property, plant and equipment, net	26,357	23,511
Goodwill	200,498	200,499
Other intangibles, net	143,763	149,757
Investment in subsidiaries	1,402,022	578,423
Intercompany receivable	700,169	1,159,672
Other long-term assets	10	10
Total assets	2,569,068	2,201,799
Current liabilities
Trade accounts payable	22,627	20,669
Accrued compensation and benefits	4,886	5,754
Current maturities of debt and short-term borrowings	0	0
Income taxes payable	0	0
Other current liabilities	5,038	6,989
Total current liabilities	32,551	33,412
Long-term debt, less current maturities	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Pension and postretirement benefit liabilities	0	0
Other long-term liabilities	417	588
Intercompany payable	0	0
Shareholders’ equity	2,536,100	2,167,799
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity	2,569,068	2,201,799
Reportable Legal Entities | Non-Guarantors
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	165,381	171,580	148,191	149,591
Accounts receivable, net	136,702	131,422
Inventories, net	63,226	66,576
Other current assets	41,778	33,851
Total current assets	407,087	403,429
Property, plant and equipment, net	82,034	84,577
Goodwill	269,733	279,930
Other intangibles, net	73,003	80,289
Investment in subsidiaries	531,353	465,736
Intercompany receivable	191,146	0
Other long-term assets	16,404	17,530
Total assets	1,570,760	1,331,491
Current liabilities
Trade accounts payable	89,484	82,853
Accrued compensation and benefits	22,445	23,641
Current maturities of debt and short-term borrowings	0	0
Income taxes payable	0	7,368
Other current liabilities	27,481	24,508
Total current liabilities	139,410	138,370
Long-term debt, less current maturities	0	0
Deferred income taxes	9,534	690
Pension and postretirement benefit liabilities	8,279	8,864
Other long-term liabilities	8,443	8,767
Intercompany payable	114,539	383,073
Shareholders’ equity	1,290,555	791,727
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity	1,570,760	1,331,491
Eliminations
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	$ 0	$ 0
Accounts receivable, net	0	0
Inventories, net	0	0
Other current assets	0	0
Total current assets	0	0
Property, plant and equipment, net	0	0
Goodwill	0
Other intangibles, net	0	0
Investment in subsidiaries	(3,826,655)	(2,959,526)
Intercompany receivable	(891,315)	(1,159,672)
Other long-term assets	0	0
Total assets	(4,717,970)	(4,119,198)
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	(891,315)	(1,159,672)
Shareholders’ equity	(3,826,655)	(2,959,526)
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity	$ (4,717,970)	$ (4,119,198)