6. INVESTMENTS IN JOINT VENTURES

The financial statements of the Company’s foreign joint ventures are initially prepared using the accounting principles accepted in the respective joint ventures’ countries of domicile. Amounts related to foreign joint ventures reported in the below tables and the accompanying consolidated financial statements have subsequently been adjusted to conform with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America in all material respects. All material profits recorded on sales from the Company to its joint ventures and from joint ventures to other joint ventures have been eliminated for financial reporting purposes.

Financial information of the Company’s joint venture in Germany, Excor Korrosionsschutz – Technologien und Produkte GmbH (EXCOR), and all of the Company’s other joint ventures, are summarized as follows:

	As of August 31, 2016
	Total		EXCOR		All Other
Current assets	$	48,922,924	$	22,928,810	$	25,994,114
Total assets		52,407,026		24,733,340		27,673,686
Current liabilities		12,433,700		3,485,231		8,948,469
Noncurrent liabilities		100,783		—		100,783
Joint ventures’ equity		39,872,543		21,248,109		18,624,434
Northern Technologies International Corporation’s share of joint ventures’ equity		19,840,774		10,624,056		9,216,728
Northern Technologies International Corporation's share of joint ventures’ undistributed earnings		17,779,912	$	10,593,151	$	7,186,761
Northern Technologies International Corporation's dividends received from joint ventures	$	5,503,314	$	4,364,700	$	1,165,614

	Fiscal Year Ended August 31, 2016
	Total		EXCOR		All Other
Net sales	$	90,646,833	$	35,138,214	$	55,508,619
Gross profit		40,440,726		18,635,421		21,805,305
Net income		9,534,771		7,049,462		2,485,309
Northern Technologies International Corporation’s share of equity in income from joint ventures	$	4,743,831	$	3,534,113	$	1,209,718

	As of August 31, 2015
	Total		EXCOR		All Other
Current assets	$	49,295,116	$	22,620,323	$	26,674,793
Total assets		52,853,938		24,606,880		28,247,058
Current liabilities		12,288,383		3,360,142		8,928,241
Noncurrent liabilities		1,215,139		—		1,215,139
Joint ventures’ equity		39,350,417		21,246,738		18,103,679
Northern Technologies International Corporation’s share of joint ventures’ equity		20,544,238		11,571,361		8,972,877
Northern Technologies International Corporation's share of joint ventures’ undistributed earnings		18,483,377		11,540,456		6,942,921
Northern Technologies International Corporation's dividends received from joint ventures	$	2,983,338	$	2,440,200	$	543,138

	Fiscal Year Ended August 31, 2015
	Total		EXCOR		All Other
Net sales	$	99,026,251	$	36,872,664	$	62,153,587
Gross profit		48,397,318		19,993,763		28,403,555
Net income		11,849,107		8,201,659		3,647,448
Northern Technologies International Corporation’s share of equity in income from joint ventures	$	5,936,565	$	4,091,608	$	1,844,957

On January 2, 2015, the Company announced that, effective as of December 31, 2014, the Company terminated its joint venture agreements with its previous joint venture in China, Tianjin Zerust, and began the process of liquidating the joint venture entity. Since December 31, 2014, the Company has conducted business in China through a wholly-owned subsidiary, NTIC (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. As of December 31, 2014, the Company started recognizing Tianjin Zerust based on its carrying value instead of the equity method since the Company no longer expects to significantly affect the joint venture’s operations or decision making. See Note 7.

The Company records expenses that are directly attributable to its joint ventures on its consolidated statements of operations in the line item “Expenses incurred in support of joint ventures.” The expenses include items such as employee compensation and benefit expenses, travel expense and consulting expense. See note 16 regarding ongoing litigation involving Tianjin Zerust.

The Company did not make any joint venture investments during fiscal 2016 or fiscal 2015.

On November 30, 2013, the Company agreed to sell its indirect ownership interest in Mütec GmbH (Mütec), the Company’s former joint venture in Germany which manufactures proprietary electronic sensing instruments. In connection with the transaction, the owner of Mütec borrowed $168,000 from the Company to be repaid over four years with no interest. As of August 31, 2016 and 2015, $92,874 and $125,891 was due to the Company related to this transaction, respectively.