Postretirement and Other Employee Benefits (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Aug. 31, 2015

Defined Benefit Plans and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans Table Text Block [Line Items]

Reconciliation of Change in Benefit Obligations for Plans

	a. Benefit Obligations
		The following table provides a reconciliation of the change in the benefit obligations for the plans for fiscal years 2015 and 2014
(in thousands):
				Pension Benefits
				2015		2014
			Beginning projected benefit obligation	$	182,653	$	164,294
			Service cost		1,054		1,225
			Interest cost		5,554		6,819
			Actuarial (gain) loss		(5,252)		9,526
			Curtailment gain		(2,542)		(899)
			Total benefits paid		(5,238)		(5,597)
			Plan participants’ contributions		28		56
			Amendments		(198)		(97)
			Acquisitions		1,769		―
			Effect of conversion to U.S. dollars		(16,598)		7,326
			Ending projected benefit obligation	$	161,230	$	182,653

Fair Values of Plan Assets by Asset Category

	The fair values of the plan assets held by the Company by asset category for fiscal years 2015 and 2014 are as follows (in
thousands):
							Fair Value Measurements Using Inputs Considered as:
		Fair Value at
		August 31, 2015		Asset Allocation			Level 1		Level 2		Level 3
Asset Category
Cash and cash equivalents		$	4,567		3	%	$	4,567	$	―	$	―
Equity Securities:
Global equity securities(a)			24,143		18	%		―		24,143		―
U.K equity securities(b)			24,211		18	%		―		24,211		―
Debt Securities:
U.K. corporate bonds(c)			50,817		38	%		―		50,817		―
U.K. government bonds(d)			16,866		12	%		―		16,866		―
Other Investments:
Insurance contracts(e)			14,204		11	%		―		―		14,204
Fair value of plan assets		$	134,808		100	%	$	4,567	$	116,037	$	14,204

						Fair Value Measurements Using Inputs Considered as:
	Fair Value at
	August 31, 2014		Asset Allocation			Level 1		Level 2		Level 3
Asset Category
Cash and cash equivalents	$	4,642		3	%	$	4,642	$	―	$	―
Equity Securities:
Global equity securities(a)		23,726		18	%		―		23,726		―
U.K. equity securities(b)		22,759		17	%		―		22,759		―
Debt Securities:
U.K. corporate bonds(c)		54,595		40	%		―		54,595		―
U.K. government bonds(d)		18,270		13	%		―		18,270		―
Other Investments:
Insurance contracts(e)		12,459		9	%		―		―		12,459
Fair value of plan assets	$	136,451		100	%	$	4,642	$	119,350	$	12,459

^(a)Global equity securities are categorized as Level 2 and include investments that aim to capture global equity market returns by tracking the Financial Times (London) Stock Exchange (“FTSE”) AW-World (ex-UK) Index and other similar indexes in Germany.

^(b)U.K. equity securities are categorized as Level 2 and include investments in a diversified portfolio that aims to capture the returns of the U.K. equity market. The portfolio tracks the FTSE All-Share Index and invests only in U.K. securities.

^(c)U.K. corporate bonds are categorized as Level 2 and include U.K. corporate issued fixed income investments which are managed and tracked to the respective benchmark (AAA-AA-A Bonds-Over 15Y Index).

^(d)U.K. government bonds are categorized as Level 2 and include U.K. government-issued fixed income investments which are managed and tracked to the respective benchmark (FTSE U.K. Over 15 Years Gilts Index and FTSE U.K. Over 5 Years Index-Linked).

^(e)The assets related to The Netherlands plan consist of an insurance contract that guarantees the payment of the funded pension entitlements, as well as provides a profit share to the Company. The profit share in this contract is not based on actual investments, but, instead on a notional investment portfolio that is expected to return a pre-defined rate. Insurance contract assets are recorded at fair value, which is determined based on the cash surrender value of the insured benefits which is the present value of the guaranteed funded benefits. Insurance contracts are valued using unobservable inputs (Level 3 inputs), primarily by discounting expected future cash flows relating to benefits paid from a notional investment portfolio in order to determine the cash surrender value of the policy. The unobservable inputs consist of estimated future benefits to be paid throughout the duration of the policy and estimated discount rates, which both have an immaterial impact on the fair value estimate of the contract.

Reconciliation of Changes in Pension Plan Assets

	The following table provides a reconciliation of the changes in the pension plan assets for the year between measurement dates
for fiscal years 2015 and 2014 (in thousands):
			Pension Benefits
			2015		2014
		Beginning fair value of plan assets	$	136,451	$	117,478
		Actual return on plan assets		9,810		14,327
		Acquisitions		1,756		―
		Employer contributions		3,499		4,008
		Benefits paid from plan assets		(5,037)		(4,421)
		Plan participants’ contributions		28		56
		Effect of conversion to U.S. dollars		(11,699)		5,003
		Ending fair value of plan assets	$	134,808	$	136,451

Reconciliation of Funded Status of Plans to Consolidated Balance Sheets

	c. Funded Status
		The following table provides a reconciliation of the funded status of the plans to the Consolidated Balance Sheets for fiscal
years 2015 and 2014 (in thousands):
					Pension Benefits
					2015		2014
			Funded Status
			Ending fair value of plan assets		$	134,808	$	136,451
			Ending projected benefit obligation			(161,230)		(182,653)
			Under or unfunded status		$	(26,422)	$	(46,202)
			Consolidated Balance Sheet Information
			Accrued benefit liability, current		$	(140)	$	(146)
			Accrued benefit liability, noncurrent			(26,282)		(46,056)
			Net liability recorded at August 31		$	(26,422)	$	(46,202)
			Amounts recognized in accumulated other comprehensive loss
				consist of:
			Net actuarial loss		$	32,986	$	48,858
			Prior service cost			(1,405)		(1,594)
			Accumulated other comprehensive loss, before taxes		$	31,581	$	47,264

Estimated Amount that will be Amortized from Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss into Net Periodic Benefit Cost

	The following table provides the estimated amount that will be amortized from accumulated other comprehensive loss into net
periodic benefit cost in fiscal year 2016 (in thousands):
			Pension Benefits
		Recognized net actuarial loss	$	1,075
		Amortization of prior service cost		(141)
		Total	$	934

Information for Plans with Accumulated Benefit Obligation in Excess of Plan Assets

	The accumulated benefit obligation for the plans was $152.8 million and $171.9 million at August 31, 2015 and 2014,
respectively.
	The following table provides information for the plans with an accumulated benefit obligation in excess of plan assets for fiscal
years 2015 and 2014 (in thousands):
			August 31,
			2015		2014
		Projected benefit obligation	$	161,230	$	182,653
		Accumulated benefit obligation	$	152,818	$	171,865
		Fair value of plan assets	$	134,808	$	136,451

Information about Net Periodic Benefit Cost for Plans

	d. Net Periodic Benefit Cost
		The following table provides information about net periodic benefit cost for the plans for fiscal years 2015, 2014 and 2013 (in
thousands):
				Pension Benefits
				2015		2014		2013
			Service cost	$	1,054	$	1,225	$	1,596
			Interest cost		5,554		6,819		5,977
			Expected long-term return on plan assets		(5,778)		(6,167)		(5,308)
			Recognized actuarial loss		1,723		2,817		2,474
			Net curtailment gain		(2,542)		(107)		(3,401)
			Amortization of prior service cost		(147)		(198)		(184)
			Net periodic benefit cost	$	(136)	$	4,389	$	1,154

Estimated Future Benefit Payments

The estimated future benefit payments, which reflect expected future service, as appropriate, are as follows (in thousands):
	Fiscal Year Ending August 31,	Amount
	2016	$	5,215
	2017		5,632
	2018		5,548
	2019		6,490
	2020		7,059
	Years 2021 through 2025		38,987

Benefit Obligations

Defined Benefit Plans and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans Table Text Block [Line Items]

Weighted-Average Actuarial Assumptions

	Weighted-average actuarial assumptions used to determine the benefit obligations for the plans for fiscal years 2015 and 2014
were as follows:
			Pension Benefits
			2015		2014
		Expected long-term return on plan assets	4.4	%	4.6	%
		Rate of compensation increase	4.3	%	4.4	%
		Discount rate	3.2	%	3.3	%

Net Periodic Benefit Cost

Defined Benefit Plans and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans Table Text Block [Line Items]

Weighted-Average Actuarial Assumptions

	Weighted-average actuarial assumptions used to determine net periodic benefit cost for the plans for fiscal years 2015, 2014 and
2013 were as follows:
			Pension Benefits
			2015		2014		2013
		Expected long-term return on plan assets	4.4	%	5.1	%	4.9	%
		Rate of compensation increase	3.2	%	4.0	%	4.5	%
		Discount rate	1.8	%	3.0	%	4.0	%
	The expected return on plan assets assumption used in calculating net periodic pension cost is based on historical actual return
experience and estimates of future long-term performance with consideration to the expected investment mix of the plan assets.