Debt (Details)			9 Months Ended			9 Months Ended
	May 31, 2012 USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2011 USD ($)	May 31, 2012 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2011 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2011 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] GBP (£)	May 31, 2012 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] Minimum [Member]	May 31, 2012 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] Maximum [Member]	May 31, 2012 Credit Facility Bpp [Member] USD ($)	May 31, 2012 Credit Facility Bpp [Member] GBP (£)	Aug. 31, 2011 Credit Facility Bpp [Member] USD ($)	May 31, 2012 Capital Lease Obligations [Member] USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2011 Capital Lease Obligations [Member] USD ($)	May 31, 2012 Other Debt [Member] USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2011 Other Debt [Member] USD ($)	May 31, 2012 Other Debt Variable [Member] USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2011 Other Debt Variable [Member] USD ($)	May 31, 2012 Other Debt Fixed [Member] USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2011 Other Debt Fixed [Member] USD ($)	May 31, 2012 Amended Credit Facility Bpp [Member] USD ($)	May 31, 2012 Amended Credit Facility Bpp [Member] GBP (£)
Debt [Line Items]
Total debt	$ 125,994,000	$ 599,009,000	$ 0	$ 493,322,000				$ 38,439,000		$ 47,603,000	$ 55,852,000	$ 36,512,000	$ 31,703,000	$ 21,572,000	$ 8,100,000	$ 9,100,000	$ 9,600,000	$ 12,500,000
Short-term borrowings and current portion of long-term debt	(35,827,000)	(419,318,000)
Long-term debt	90,167,000	179,691,000
Borrowing capacity			625,000,000					81,500,000	52,000,000										61,100,000	39,000,000
Debt term			5 years
British Pounds denominated debt				$ 103,200,000	£ 63,000,000
Fees						0.25%	0.40%
Variable debt rate basis			LIBOR					LIBOR	LIBOR
Fees for borrowings						1.25%	1.85%	1.75%	1.75%
Weighted average interest rate				2.80%	2.80%			2.70%	2.70%	4.00%			5.20%	6.10%