Note 5. Divestiture Activities

On July 9, 2019, as part of our overall strategy to become a pure-play industrial tools and services company, the Company entered into a SPA to divest the remaining businesses within the EC&S segment at a purchase price of approximately $214.5 million (which includes approximately $3.0 million to be paid in four quarterly installments after closing). At August 31, 2019, the EC&S segment met the criteria for assets held for sale treatment. As a result, the Company recognized impairment & divestiture charges in fiscal 2019 of $264.5 million which consisted of $210.0 million representing the excess net book value of the net assets over the anticipated sales proceeds less costs to sell and $54.5 million representing the recognition in earnings of the cumulative effect of foreign currency exchange losses previously recorded in equity since acquisition.

On December 31, 2018, the Company completed the sale of the PHI business for $23.6 million cash, net of final transaction costs, working capital adjustments, accelerated vesting of equity compensation, retention bonuses and other adjustments. The Company recorded $9.5 million of impairment & divestiture charges during the fiscal year representing the excess of the net book value of the assets held for sale less the anticipated proceeds, less costs to sell. During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018, the Company recognized impairment & divestiture charges of $23.7 million relating to the excess of net book value of assets over anticipated proceeds which consisted of i) $17.5 million related to goodwill, ii) $5.0 million related to amortizable intangible assets and ii) $1.2 million related to fixed asset impairment.

The Company also completed the sale of the Cortland Fibron business on December 19, 2018 for $12.5 million in cash. The Company recognized $1.7 million of impairment & divestiture charges in fiscal 2019 representing the excess net book value of the net assets less the proceeds from sale, net of transaction costs. Additionally, due to the business meeting the criteria for asset held for sale treatment at August 31, 2018, the Company recognized impairment & divestiture charges in fiscal 2018 of $46.3 million which consisted of i) $35.3 million related to the recognition in earnings of the cumulative effect of foreign currency rate changes since acquisition; ii) $10.5 million representing the excess of the net book value of assets held for sale to the anticipated proceeds and iii) $0.5 million of other divestiture charges.

As the aforementioned divestitures were a part of our strategic shift to become a pure-play industrial tools and services company, the results of their operations (including the stated impairment & divestiture charges) are recorded as a component of "(Loss) earnings from discontinued operations" in the Consolidated Statements of Operations for all periods presented. In addition, their assets and liabilities are recorded as "Assets from discontinued operations" and "Liabilities from discontinued operations", respectively, within the Consolidated Balance Sheets for each period presented.

The following is a summary of the assets and liabilities of discontinued operations (in thousands):



	August 31,
	2019		2018
Accounts receivable, net	$	52,802	$	67,412
Inventories, net	76,825		86,933
Other current assets	8,058		13,467
Property, plant & equipment, net	32,172		37,432
Goodwill	16,862		233,779
Other intangible assets, net	93,314		120,344
Other long-term assets	5,545		9,566
Assets of discontinued operations	$	285,578	$	568,933

Trade accounts payable	$	43,628	$	65,169
Accrued compensation and benefits	12,101		19,930
Reserve for cumulative translation adjustment	54,469		35,346
Other current liabilities	12,101		14,800
Deferred income taxes	20,029		24,145
Pension and postretirement benefit liabilities	1,344		912
Other long-term liabilities	91		271
Liabilities of discontinued operations	$	143,763	$	160,573

The following represents the detail of "(Loss) earnings from discontinued operations, net of income taxes" within the Consolidated Statements of Operations (in thousands):



	Year Ended August 31,
	2019			2018			2017
Net sales	$	459,144		$	541,308		$	479,193
Cost of products sold	344,563			409,332			359,846
Gross profit	114,581			131,976			119,347

Selling, administrative and engineering expenses	68,339			81,188			69,360
Amortization of intangible assets	5,666			11,285			11,377
Restructuring charges	1,779			1,440			3,994
Impairment & divestiture charges*	286,175			70,071			—
Operating (loss) profit	(247,378		)	(32,008		)	34,616

Financing costs, net	124			619			482
Other expense (income), net	1,922			(759		)	(1,064		)
Loss (earnings) before income tax expense (benefit)	(249,424		)	(31,868		)	35,198

Income tax expense (benefit)	7,788			(5,474		)	6,136
Net (loss) earnings from discontinued operations	$	(257,212	)	$	(26,394	)	$	29,062

*In addition to the impairment & divestiture charges discussed above, the Company also incurred approximately $10.5 million of divestiture charges in fiscal 2019 related to the anticipated divestiture of EC&S.

On December 1, 2017, the Company completed the sale of the Viking business (Other Segment) for net cash proceeds of $8.8 million, which resulted in an after-tax impairment & divestiture charge of $12.4 million in fiscal 2018, comprised of real estate lease exit charges of $3.0 million related to retained facilities that became vacant as a result of the Viking divestiture and approximately $9.4 million of associated discrete income tax expense. In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017, related to the then pending sale of our Viking business, we recognized impairment & divestiture charges of $117.0 million which consisted of (i) a $16.1 million charge representing the excess of the net book value of assets held for sale to the anticipated proceeds; (ii) a non-cash impairment charge of $69.0 million related to the recognition in earnings of the cumulative effect of foreign currency rate changes since acquisition; (iii) a $28.6 million cash charge related to the operating lease buyout of certain rental assets and (iv) a $3.3 million of other divestiture charges.

The historical results of the Viking business (which had net sales of $2.7 million in the year ended August 31, 2018) are not material to the consolidated financial results.