Equity Affiliates

9 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

Equity Method Investments and Joint Ventures [Abstract]

Equity Affiliates

EQUITY AFFILIATES

For the nine months ended 30 June 2018, equity affiliates' income includes an expense of $32.5 for the impact of the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act recorded during the first quarter of fiscal year 2018. Refer to Note 19, Income Taxes, to the consolidated financial statements for additional information.

During the third quarter of fiscal year 2017, we recorded an other-than-temporary impairment charge of $79.5 on our investment in Abdullah Hashim Industrial Gases & Equipment Co., Ltd. (AHG), a 25%-owned equity affiliate in our Industrial Gases – EMEA segment. The impairment charge is reflected on our consolidated income statements within “Equity affiliates' income (loss)” for the three and nine months ended 30 June 2017. This charge was not deductible for tax purposes and has been excluded from segment results.

The decline in value resulted from expectations for lower future cash flows to be generated by AHG, primarily due to challenging economic conditions in Saudi Arabia, including the impacts of lower prices in the oil and gas industry, increased competition, and capital project growth opportunities not materializing as anticipated.

The AHG investment was valued based on the results of the income and market valuation approaches. The income approach utilized a discount rate based on a market-participant, risk-adjusted weighted average cost of capital, which considers industry required rates of return on debt and equity capital for a target industry capital structure adjusted for risks associated with size and geography. Other significant estimates and assumptions that drove our updated valuation of AHG included revenue growth rates and profit margins that were lower than those upon acquisition and our assessment of AHG's business improvement plan effectiveness. Under the market approach, we estimated fair value based on market multiples of revenue and earnings derived from publicly-traded industrial gases companies engaged in similar lines of business, adjusted to reflect differences in size and growth prospects.