<SEC-DOCUMENT>0001193125-14-411343.txt : 20150609
<SEC-HEADER>0001193125-14-411343.hdr.sgml : 20150609
<ACCEPTANCE-DATETIME>20141113171236
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ACCESSION NUMBER:		0001193125-14-411343
CONFORMED SUBMISSION TYPE:	CORRESP
PUBLIC DOCUMENT COUNT:		1
FILED AS OF DATE:		20141113

FILER:

	COMPANY DATA:	
		COMPANY CONFORMED NAME:			GREIF INC
		CENTRAL INDEX KEY:			0000043920
		STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION:	METAL SHIPPING BARRELS, DRUMS, KEGS & PAILS [3412]
		IRS NUMBER:				314388903
		STATE OF INCORPORATION:			DE
		FISCAL YEAR END:			1031

	FILING VALUES:
		FORM TYPE:		CORRESP

	BUSINESS ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		425 WINTER ROAD
		CITY:			DELAWARE
		STATE:			OH
		ZIP:			43015
		BUSINESS PHONE:		7405496000

	MAIL ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		425 WINTER ROAD
		CITY:			DELAWARE
		STATE:			OH
		ZIP:			43015

	FORMER COMPANY:	
		FORMER CONFORMED NAME:	GREIF BROTHERS CORP
		DATE OF NAME CHANGE:	19920703

	FORMER COMPANY:	
		FORMER CONFORMED NAME:	GREIF BROTHERS COOPERAGE CORP
		DATE OF NAME CHANGE:	19690820
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<TYPE>CORRESP
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<TITLE>Correspondence</TITLE>
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 <P STYLE="margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman" ALIGN="center">CORRESPONDENCE </P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman" ALIGN="center">GREIF, INC. </P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman" ALIGN="center">425 Winter Road </P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman" ALIGN="center">Delaware, Ohio 43015 </P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman" ALIGN="center">November&nbsp;13, 2014 </P> <P STYLE="margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">VIA EDGAR </P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">United States </P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">Securities and Exchange Commission </P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">100 F Street, NE </P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">Washington, D.C. 20549 </P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; margin-left:4%; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman"><B>Re: Greif, Inc. </B></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; margin-left:4%; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman"><B>Form
10-K for Fiscal Year Ended October&nbsp;31, 2013 (the &#147;2013 Form 10-K&#148;) </B></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; margin-left:4%; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman"><B>Filed December&nbsp;23, 2013 </B></P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; margin-left:4%; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman"><B>Response dated October&nbsp;23, 2014 </B></P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; margin-left:4%; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman"><B>File No.&nbsp;1-00566 </B></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">Ladies and
Gentlemen: </P> <P STYLE="margin-top:6pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">This letter is in response to the November&nbsp;5, 2014 comment letter from the Staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the
&#147;Commission&#148;) to Lawrence A. Hilsheimer, Chief Financial Officer of Greif, Inc. (the &#147;Company&#148;), with respect to the subject filing. The November&nbsp;5 letter related to the Company&#146;s response letter dated October&nbsp;23,
2014 (the &#147;Response Letter&#148;). </P> <P STYLE="margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">For convenience, each comment contained in the November&nbsp;5 letter is repeated below (in italics) followed by
the Company&#146;s response. The Company believes that the following information responds fully and completely to each of the comments in the November&nbsp;5 letter. </P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:18pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman"><U>Item&nbsp;8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, page 44 </U></P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:6pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman"><U>Note 6 &#150; Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets, page 60 </U></P> <P STYLE="font-size:6pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt">&nbsp;</P>
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<TD WIDTH="4%" VALIGN="top" ALIGN="left"><I>1.</I></TD>
<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"><I>We note the additional disclosure you intended to include in the future filings in response to comment 15 in our letter dated September&nbsp;15, 2014. However, neither your response nor your draft disclosure
addressed whether any of your reporting units were aggregated for purposes of testing goodwill for impairment during the most recent annual impairment test. In this regard, we note that you are testing goodwill allocated to the Rigid Industrial
Packaging and Services reportable segment at the operating segment level. In your most recent conference call held by management and included as exhibit 99.2 to the August&nbsp;29, 2014 Form 8-K, there appears to be diversity in operating results
for the various regions comprising the two operating segments. Further, it does appear as though financial results at the component level (i.e., United States, Europe, China, rest of Asia-Pacific, Latin America, et cetera) are available. Please
advise and address whether additional disclosure should be provided in your footnote disclosure and/or critical accounting policies section of MD&amp;A for the identification of your reporting units and level at which goodwill is being tested.
</I></TD></TR></TABLE> <P STYLE="margin-top:6pt; margin-bottom:0pt; margin-left:8%; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">In response to the Staff&#146;s comments, in performing our annual impairment test for goodwill, the Company follows the
guidance outlined in ASC 350-20-35, paragraphs 34 and 35, regarding the identification of components of operating segments and the aggregation of two or more components into a single reporting unit when those components are within the same operating
segment and share similar economic characteristics from both a qualitative and quantitative perspective. The Rigid Industrial Packaging &amp; Services segment is comprised of two operating segments: Rigid Industrial Packaging &amp; Services &#150;
Americas; and Rigid Industrial Packaging &amp; Services Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific. Both of these operating segments are comprised of multiple components which have discrete financial information available that is reviewed by
segment management on a regular basis. The Company has evaluated these components and has concluded that they should be aggregated into two reporting units in accordance with ASC 350 because they share similar economic characteristics. These
reporting units are the same as the two operating segments. The Company&#146;s assessment of the aggregation includes both qualitative and quantitative factors and is based on the facts and circumstances specific to the components such as the nature
of the products and services, production processes, customers, and distribution methods. Accordingly, the Company has conducted its annual goodwill impairment testing at the level of each individual reporting unit. </P>
 <p STYLE="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt ; font-size:8pt">&nbsp;</P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman" ALIGN="center">1 </P>


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 <P STYLE="margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; margin-left:8%; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">The Company notes that in comments 1 and 15 of the Response Letter it provided additional
disclosures that would have been included in both the Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets section in the Critical Accounting Policies section of Management&#146;s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in the 2013
Form 10-K and in Note 6 &#150; Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets within the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item&nbsp;8 of the 2013 Form 10-K. These additional disclosures separately set forth the amount of goodwill by reporting
unit. In accordance with ASC&nbsp;350, the Company has aggregated components within a single reporting unit, but has not aggregated reporting units for purposes of goodwill impairment testing. </P>
<P STYLE="font-size:6pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt">&nbsp;</P>
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<TD WIDTH="4%" VALIGN="top" ALIGN="left"><I>2.</I></TD>
<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"><I>Based on your response to comment 21, it appears net sales attributed to foreign countries in total are material. In future filings, please expand your geographic information to disclose net sales from external
customers and assets for the United States and attributed to all foreign countries in total in accordance with ASC 280-10-50-41. </I></TD></TR></TABLE>
<P STYLE="margin-top:6pt; margin-bottom:0pt; margin-left:8%; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">In response to the Staff&#146;s comments, the Company has concluded that only the United States is material in terms of net sales and total
properties, plants and equipment based on its consideration of both quantitative and qualitative factors. Therefore, the Company will separately present the United States in accordance with ASC 280-10-50-41 and continue to disclose the aggregation
of all immaterial countries by region in order to provide financial statement users additional information to assess the impact of concentrations of risk for the immaterial locations. </P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">The Company acknowledges the following: </P> <P STYLE="font-size:6pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt">&nbsp;</P>
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<TD WIDTH="9%">&nbsp;</TD>
<TD WIDTH="3%" VALIGN="top" ALIGN="left">&#149;</TD>
<TD WIDTH="1%" VALIGN="top">&nbsp;</TD>
<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">The Company is responsible for the adequacy and accuracy of the disclosure in this filing; </TD></TR></TABLE> <P STYLE="font-size:6pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt">&nbsp;</P>
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<TD WIDTH="9%">&nbsp;</TD>
<TD WIDTH="3%" VALIGN="top" ALIGN="left">&#149;</TD>
<TD WIDTH="1%" VALIGN="top">&nbsp;</TD>
<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">Staff comments or changes to disclosures in response to staff comments do not foreclose the Commission from taking any action with respect to the filing; and </TD></TR></TABLE>
<P STYLE="font-size:6pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt">&nbsp;</P>
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<TD WIDTH="3%" VALIGN="top" ALIGN="left">&#149;</TD>
<TD WIDTH="1%" VALIGN="top">&nbsp;</TD>
<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">The Company may not assert staff comments as a defense in any proceeding initiated by the Commission or any person under the federal securities laws of the United States. </TD></TR></TABLE>
<P STYLE="margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">If you have any further questions or comments, please contact me at your convenience. </P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">Very truly yours, </P> <P STYLE="font-size:12pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt">&nbsp;</P>
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<TD VALIGN="top" COLSPAN="3">GREIF, INC.</TD></TR>
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<TD VALIGN="top">By</TD>
<TD VALIGN="bottom"><FONT STYLE="font-size:8pt">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
<TD VALIGN="top"> <P STYLE="margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:1pt; border-bottom:1px solid #000000; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">/s/ Lawrence A. Hilsheimer</P></TD></TR>
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<TD VALIGN="bottom"><FONT STYLE="font-size:8pt">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
<TD VALIGN="top">Lawrence A. Hilsheimer</TD></TR>
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<TD VALIGN="top"></TD>
<TD VALIGN="bottom"><FONT STYLE="font-size:8pt">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
<TD VALIGN="top">Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer</TD></TR>
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 <p STYLE="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt ; font-size:8pt">&nbsp;</P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman" ALIGN="center">2 </P>

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