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When presenting a range of maturity dates, the latest date when the outstanding debt instruments are required to be repaid. May be presented in a variety of ways (for example: year only, month and year, day, month and year, and number of years).

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Reflects the calculation as of the balance sheet date of the average interest rate weighted by the amount of debt outstanding by type or by instrument at that time.

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Amount borrowed under the credit facility as of the balance sheet date.

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Decrease for amounts repaid on the credit facility for the period.

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Maximum borrowing capacity under the credit facility without consideration of any current restrictions on the amount that could be borrowed or the amounts currently outstanding under the facility.

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Debt (Details)			1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended					12 Months Ended
Debt (Details)	Aug. 31, 2011 USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2010 USD ($)	Oct. 19, 2011 Bank Facility [Member] USD ($)	Nov. 30, 2010 Bank Facility [Member] USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2011 Bank Facility [Member] USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2011 Bank Facility [Member] GBP (£)	Aug. 31, 2010 Bank Facility [Member] USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2011 Credit Facility Bpp [Member] USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2011 Credit Facility Bpp [Member] GBP (£)	Aug. 31, 2010 Credit Facility Bpp [Member] USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2011 Capital Lease Obligations [Member] USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2010 Capital Lease Obligations [Member] USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2011 Other Debt [Member] USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2010 Other Debt [Member] USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2011 Other Debt Variable [Member] USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2010 Other Debt Variable [Member] USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2011 Other Debt Fixed [Member] USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2010 Other Debt Fixed [Member] USD ($)
Debt [Line Items]
Total debt	$ 599,009,000	$ 584,400,000			$ 493,322,000		$ 497,968,000	$ 47,603,000		$ 52,925,000	$ 36,512,000	$ 7,827,000	$ 21,572,000	$ 25,680,000	$ 9,100,000	$ 8,700,000	$ 12,500,000	$ 17,000,000
Short-term borrowings and current portion of long-term debt	(419,318,000)	(416,361,000)
Long-term debt	179,691,000	168,039,000
Aggregate debt maturities [Abstract]
2012	419,318,000
2013	150,651,000
2014	8,273,000
2015	7,970,000
2016	6,295,000
Thereafter	6,502,000
Total debt	599,009,000	584,400,000			493,322,000		497,968,000	47,603,000		52,925,000	36,512,000	7,827,000	21,572,000	25,680,000	9,100,000	8,700,000	12,500,000	17,000,000
Borrowing capacity					500,000,000			85,200,000	52,000,000
Expansion feature					250,000,000
Term length and expiration					five years and will expire on January 4, 2013	five years and will expire on January 4, 2013
British Pounds denominated debt					103,200,000	63,000,000
US Dollar denominated debt repaid			$ 390,100,000	$ 400,100,000
Fees					12.5 to 17.5 basis points	12.5 to 17.5 basis points
Fees for borrowings					LIBOR + 50.0 to 82.5 basis points	LIBOR + 50.0 to 82.5 basis points		LIBOR + 250 to 325 basis points	LIBOR + 250 to 325 basis points
Weighted average interest rate					2.80%	2.80%	2.90%	4.00%	4.00%	4.00%			6.10%	6.70%
Other debt interest rates, minimum													5.00%
Other debt interest rates, maximum													7.30%
Other debt maturities, earliest													2012
Other debt maturities, latest													2019