Fair Value Measurements

12 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2020

Fair Value Disclosures [Abstract]

Fair Value Measurements

4.Fair Value Measurements

Our financial instruments consist of cash equivalents, trade and other accounts receivable, accounts payable, derivative instruments, including foreign exchange contracts and interest rate caps, and debt. The carrying amounts of cash equivalents, trade and other accounts receivable and accounts payable approximate their respective fair values due to the short-term nature of these financial instruments.

We measure on a recurring basis and disclose the fair value of our financial instruments under the provisions of ASC Topic 820, Fair Value Measurement, as amended (“ASC 820”). We define “fair value” as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability (i.e., the exit price) in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. ASC 820 establishes a three-level hierarchy for measuring fair value and requires an entity to maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs when measuring fair value. This valuation hierarchy is based upon the transparency of inputs to the valuation of an asset or liability on the measurement date. The three levels of that hierarchy are defined as follows:

Level 1 - Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities;

Level 2 - Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for similar assets or liabilities; or unadjusted quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in markets that are not active; or inputs other than quoted prices that are observable for the asset or liability; or inputs that are derived principally from or corroborated by observable market data; and

Level 3 - Unobservable inputs for the asset or liability.

Fair value on recurring basis

Consistent with the fair value hierarchy, we categorized our financial assets and liabilities as follows (in thousands):

			As of September 30,
	Classification	Pricing Category	2020		2019
Financial Assets
Cash equivalents	Cash and cash equivalents	Level 1	$	194,612	$	—
Interest rate caps	Other assets	Level 2		27		344
Total assets			$	194,639	$	344
Financial Liabilities
None

Cash equivalents, at September 30, 2020, consist of highly liquid investments which mature daily and are valued using unadjusted quoted market prices for such securities. The fair value for interest rate caps were measured using widely accepted valuation techniques, such as discounted cash flow analyses, and observable inputs, such as market interest rates.

Other fair value disclosures

Carrying amounts and the related estimated fair value of our long-term debt, excluding capital lease obligations, are as follows:

		As of September 30,
		2020				2019
	Pricing Category	Carrying Value		Fair Value		Carrying Value		Fair Value
Long-term debt
Senior notes	Level 1		1,177,380		1,217,707	$	885,296	$	898,814
Other long-term debt	Level 2		635,788		619,397		724,000		709,830
Total debt		$	1,813,168	$	1,837,104	$	1,609,296	$	1,608,644

The fair value of the senior notes was measured using unadjusted quoted market prices. The fair value of other long-term debt was measured using quoted market prices for similar debt securities in active markets or widely accepted valuation techniques, such as discounted cash flow analyses, using observable inputs, such as market interest rates.