Special Charges

In connection with various organizational changes implemented to improve our business alignment and cost structure, we recognized special charges of $5.8 million and $7.1 million for the quarters ended December 31, 2016 and 2015. These charges are summarized as follows:

Dispositions

During the first quarter of fiscal 2017, we sold our Architectural Products business and recorded special charges of $1.1 million, primarily related to severance.

Welch Allyn Integration and Business Realignment

In conjunction with the acquisition of Welch Allyn in September 2015, we initiated plans to realign our business structure to facilitate the integration, take full advantage of available synergies, and position our existing businesses to capitalize on opportunities for growth. In addition, during fiscal 2016, we incurred costs, including severance and benefit costs, associated with other business realignment and integration activities. During the quarter ended December 31, 2016, we incurred integration and business realignment charges of approximately $0.2 million. These amounts compare to charges of $4.5 million in the prior year first quarter. Since the inception of the Welch Allyn Integration and Business Realignment program through December 31, 2016, we have recognized aggregate special charges of $33.6 million. We continue to evaluate additional actions related to integration and business realignment and expect additional special charges to be incurred. However, it is not practicable to estimate the amount of these future expected costs until such time as the evaluations are complete.

Site Consolidation

In the third quarter of fiscal 2015, we initiated a plan to streamline our operations and simplify our supply chain by consolidating certain manufacturing and distribution operations. As part of this action, we announced the closure of sites in Redditch, England and Charleston, South Carolina, Vuollerim, Sweden and Montpellier, France. During the quarter ended December 31, 2016, we recorded total charges of $3.6 million related to our site consolidation efforts. These amounts compare to charges of $1.5 million in the prior year first quarter. Since the inception of the Site Consolidation program through December 31, 2016, we have recognized aggregate special charges of $24.0 million. We continue to evaluate our facilities footprint and expect to incur additional costs with respect to other actions in the future, however, it is not practicable to estimate the amount of these future expected costs until such time as the evaluations are complete.

2014 Global Transformation

During the second quarter of fiscal 2014, we announced a global transformation program focused on improving our cost structure. The domestic portion of this action was completed in fiscal 2015. Part of this program included reducing our European manufacturing capacity and streamlining our global operations by, among other things, executing a back office process transformation program in Europe. The restructuring in Europe is in process and, for the quarter ended December 31, 2016, resulted in charges of $0.9 million for severance and benefit costs, legal and professional fees, temporary labor, project management, and other administrative functions. These amounts compare to charges of $1.1 million in the prior year first quarter. Since the inception of the 2014 global transformation program through December 31, 2016, we have recognized aggregate special charges of $43.6 million. We do not expect to incur further material costs related to this action.

For all accrued severance and other benefit charges described above, we record restructuring reserves within other current liabilities. The reserve activity for severance and other benefits during the year to date period ended December 31, 2016 was as follows:



Balance at September 30, 2016	$	14.7
Expenses	2.5
Cash Payments	(5.2		)
Reversals	(0.1		)
Balance at December 31, 2016	$	11.9