Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheets (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	May 31, 2018	Aug. 31, 2017	May 31, 2017	Aug. 31, 2016
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 189,490	$ 229,571	$ 198,954	$ 179,604
Accounts receivable, net	212,284	190,206
Inventories, net	167,317	143,651
Assets held for sale	0	21,835
Other current assets	58,732	61,663
Total current assets	627,823	646,926
Total current assets	100,765	94,521
Goodwill	538,792	530,081
Other intangibles, net	210,160	220,489
Other intangibles, net	0	0
Investment in subsidiaries	0	0
Other long-term assets	27,245	24,938
Total assets	1,504,785	1,516,955
Current liabilities
Trade accounts payable	142,199	133,387
Accrued compensation and benefits	48,093	50,939
Current maturities of debt and short-term borrowings	30,000	30,000
Income taxes payable	17,605	6,080
Liabilities held for sale	0	101,083
Other current liabilities	63,437	57,445
Total current liabilities	301,334	378,934
Long-term debt	510,007	531,940
Deferred income taxes	19,491	29,859
Pension and postretirement benefit liabilities	18,692	19,862
Other long-term liabilities	54,233	55,821
Pension and post-retirement benefit liabilities	0	0
Other long-term liabilities	601,028	500,539
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity	1,504,785	1,516,955
Reportable Legal Entities | Parent
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	36,411	34,715	26,554	7,953
Accounts receivable, net	18,176	17,498
Inventories, net	26,590	23,308
Assets held for sale		0
Other current assets	9,763	23,576
Total current assets	90,940	99,097
Total current assets	8,073	7,049
Goodwill	38,847	38,847
Other intangibles, net	7,202	8,156
Other intangibles, net	1,890,023	1,832,472
Investment in subsidiaries	0	0
Other long-term assets	10,391	8,377
Total assets	2,045,476	1,993,998
Current liabilities
Trade accounts payable	14,511	15,412
Accrued compensation and benefits	14,112	19,082
Current maturities of debt and short-term borrowings	30,000	30,000
Income taxes payable	6,069	153
Liabilities held for sale		0
Other current liabilities	18,931	18,512
Total current liabilities	83,623	83,159
Long-term debt	510,007	531,940
Deferred income taxes	13,659	24,164
Pension and postretirement benefit liabilities	11,587	12,540
Other long-term liabilities	46,651	48,692
Pension and post-retirement benefit liabilities	778,921	792,964
Other long-term liabilities	601,028	500,539
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity	2,045,476	1,993,998
Reportable Legal Entities | Guarantors
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	71
Accounts receivable, net	55,856	50,749
Inventories, net	62,274	48,492
Assets held for sale		0
Other current assets	4,045	3,619
Total current assets	122,175	102,860
Total current assets	31,872	26,130
Goodwill	201,578	200,499
Other intangibles, net	129,460	138,042
Other intangibles, net	1,264,257	1,186,715
Investment in subsidiaries	564,943	589,193
Other long-term assets	31	812
Total assets	2,314,316	2,244,251
Current liabilities
Trade accounts payable	30,284	27,168
Accrued compensation and benefits	8,962	7,672
Current maturities of debt and short-term borrowings	0	0
Income taxes payable	0	0
Liabilities held for sale		0
Other current liabilities	6,521	7,169
Total current liabilities	45,767	42,009
Long-term debt	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Pension and postretirement benefit liabilities	0	0
Other long-term liabilities	374	352
Pension and post-retirement benefit liabilities	0	0
Other long-term liabilities	2,268,175	2,201,890
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity	2,314,316	2,244,251
Reportable Legal Entities | Non-Guarantors
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	153,079	194,856	172,400	171,580
Accounts receivable, net	138,252	121,959
Inventories, net	78,453	71,851
Assets held for sale		21,835
Other current assets	44,924	34,468
Total current assets	414,708	444,969
Total current assets	60,820	61,342
Goodwill	298,367	290,735
Other intangibles, net	73,498	74,291
Other intangibles, net	802,395	805,016
Investment in subsidiaries	214,895	205,183
Other long-term assets	16,823	15,749
Total assets	1,881,506	1,897,285
Current liabilities
Trade accounts payable	97,404	90,807
Accrued compensation and benefits	25,019	24,185
Current maturities of debt and short-term borrowings	0	0
Income taxes payable	11,536	5,927
Liabilities held for sale		101,083
Other current liabilities	37,985	31,764
Total current liabilities	171,944	253,766
Long-term debt	0	0
Deferred income taxes	5,832	5,695
Pension and postretirement benefit liabilities	7,105	7,322
Other long-term liabilities	7,208	6,777
Pension and post-retirement benefit liabilities	917	1,412
Other long-term liabilities	1,688,500	1,622,313
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity	1,881,506	1,897,285
Eliminations
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	$ 0	$ 0
Accounts receivable, net	0	0
Inventories, net	0	0
Assets held for sale		0
Other current assets	0	0
Total current assets	0	0
Total current assets	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Other intangibles, net	0	0
Other intangibles, net	(3,956,675)	(3,824,203)
Investment in subsidiaries	(779,838)	(794,376)
Other long-term assets	0	0
Total assets	(4,736,513)	(4,618,579)
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
Liabilities held for sale		0
Other current liabilities	0	0
Total current liabilities	0	0
Long-term debt	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Pension and postretirement benefit liabilities	0	0
Other long-term liabilities	0	0
Pension and post-retirement benefit liabilities	(779,838)	(794,376)
Other long-term liabilities	(3,956,675)	(3,824,203)
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity	$ (4,736,513)	$ (4,618,579)