Segment Information (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Aug. 31, 2015	May. 31, 2015	Feb. 28, 2015	Nov. 30, 2014	Aug. 31, 2014	May. 31, 2014	Feb. 28, 2014	Nov. 30, 2013	Aug. 31, 2015	Aug. 31, 2014	Aug. 31, 2013
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales to unaffiliated customers	$ 674,019	$ 560,858	$ 542,295	$ 615,053	$ 627,358	$ 645,735	$ 588,508	$ 585,397	$ 2,392,225	$ 2,446,998	$ 2,133,402
Segment gross profit									366,155	332,552	282,902
Inventory step-up									(3,082)	(1,468)	(138)
Accelerated depreciation and restructuring related costs									(1,796)	(1,042)	(1,585)
Costs Related to Acquisitions in Gross Profit									(267)	(34)	0
Gross profit	105,335	90,757	78,074	86,844	84,637	$ 91,964	$ 74,299	$ 79,108	361,010	330,008	281,179
Costs related to acquisitions									(17,208)	(6,021)	(2,661)
Restructuring and related costs									(23,411)	(9,618)	(13,687)
Accelerated Depreciation									(408)	(107)	(1,058)
CEO transition costs	0	0	$ (6,167)	$ 0					(6,167)	0	0
Asset impairment									0	(104)	(1,873)
Curtailment and settlement (gains) losses									0	(214)	(333)
Operating income									70,428	82,321	63,103
Interest expense, net									(22,613)	(8,503)	(7,657)
Bridge financing fees		$ (18,750)							(18,750)	0	0
Foreign currency transaction gains (losses)									(3,363)	(2,206)	(2,426)
Other income (expense), net									1,438	720	712
Gain on early extinguishment of debt									1,290	0	0
Income (loss) from continuing operations before taxes									28,430	72,332	53,732
Identifiable assets	2,351,711				1,512,484				2,351,711	1,512,484	1,238,342
Depreciation and amortization expense									59,240	47,904	41,451
Capital expenditures									42,587	35,089	26,568
Long lived assets	314,494				253,921				$ 314,494	$ 253,921	$ 210,521
Net sales, percentage									100.00%	100.00%	100.00%
Custom Performance Color [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales to unaffiliated customers									$ 191,453	$ 188,221	$ 164,128
Net sales, percentage									8.00%	8.00%	8.00%
Engineered Composites [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales to unaffiliated customers									$ 57,133	$ 0	$ 0
Net sales, percentage									2.00%
Masterbatch Solutions [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales to unaffiliated customers									$ 741,354	$ 766,788	$ 743,846
Net sales, percentage									31.00%	31.00%	35.00%
Engineered Plastics [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales to unaffiliated customers									$ 787,258	$ 753,728	$ 559,462
Net sales, percentage									33.00%	31.00%	26.00%
Specialty Powders [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales to unaffiliated customers									$ 294,228	$ 350,510	$ 308,620
Net sales, percentage									12.00%	14.00%	14.00%
Distribution Services [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales to unaffiliated customers									$ 320,799	$ 387,751	$ 357,346
Net sales, percentage									14.00%	16.00%	17.00%
Germany [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales to unaffiliated customers									$ 432,822	$ 548,454	$ 536,833
Long lived assets	27,224				22,716				27,224	22,716	23,316
FRANCE
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales to unaffiliated customers									195,507	238,029	221,521
Long lived assets	18,472				22,758				18,472	22,758	21,854
United States [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales to unaffiliated customers									632,906	457,225	383,964
Long lived assets	159,394				95,349				159,394	95,349	70,197
Other International [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales to unaffiliated customers									1,130,990	1,203,290	991,084
Long lived assets	109,404				113,098				109,404	113,098	95,154
EMEA [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales to unaffiliated customers									1,339,355	1,577,867	1,405,882
Segment gross profit									189,860	206,268	179,242
Segment operating income									78,313	80,690	67,320
Identifiable assets	701,263				809,670				701,263	809,670	735,684
Depreciation and amortization expense									21,730	21,832	18,072
Capital expenditures									21,321	13,199	9,157
USCAN [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales to unaffiliated customers									610,493	475,050	400,449
Segment gross profit									100,550	73,278	52,906
Segment operating income									40,713	30,418	16,643
Identifiable assets	873,814				458,109				873,814	458,109	303,553
Depreciation and amortization expense									24,197	16,522	14,471
Capital expenditures									10,332	12,235	10,373
LATAM [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales to unaffiliated customers									177,463	198,313	200,375
Segment gross profit									31,971	26,239	28,409
Segment operating income									13,061	8,388	11,708
Identifiable assets	96,210				111,126				96,210	111,126	109,885
Depreciation and amortization expense									3,255	4,128	5,010
Capital expenditures									3,597	4,380	4,665
APAC [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales to unaffiliated customers									207,781	195,768	126,696
Segment gross profit									29,238	26,767	22,345
Segment operating income									14,401	12,527	12,108
Identifiable assets	126,965				133,579				126,965	133,579	89,220
Depreciation and amortization expense									5,424	5,422	3,898
Capital expenditures									6,895	5,275	2,373
Total Segments Excluding Corporate [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Segment operating income									151,942	132,023	107,779
Corporate and Other [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Segment operating income									(31,238)	(32,170)	(24,926)
EC [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales to unaffiliated customers									57,133	0	0
Segment gross profit									14,536	0	0
Segment operating income									5,454	0	0
Identifiable assets	$ 553,459				$ 0				553,459	0	0
Depreciation and amortization expense									4,634	0	0
Capital expenditures									$ 442	$ 0	$ 0