Special Charges

In connection with various organizational changes implemented to improve our business alignment and cost structure, we recognized special charges of $3.1 million and $10.7 million for the quarters ended March 31, 2017 and 2016, and $8.9 million and $17.8 million for the year to date periods ended March 31, 2017 and 2016. 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.

Integration and Business Realignment

We recently acquired Mortara and Tridien and initiated integration activities to optimize the available synergies of our combined company. Additionally, 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. We also incurred costs, including severance and benefit costs, associated with other business realignment and integration activities. During the quarter and year to date periods ended March 31, 2017, we incurred total integration and business realignment charges of approximately $2.1 million and $2.3 million, of which $1.4 million were severance and benefit costs for the quarter and year to date periods ended March 31, 2017. These amounts compare to charges of $6.3 million and $10.8 million during the quarter and year to date periods ended March 31, 2016. 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 have announced the closure of five sites. During the quarter and year to date periods ended March 31, 2017, we recorded total charges of $6.2 million and $9.8 million, related to our site consolidation efforts, of which $1.7 million were severance and benefit costs. These amounts compare to charges of $2.4 million and $4.1 million, during the quarter and year to date periods ended March 31, 2016.

During the second quarter of fiscal 2017, we sold our Charleston property for $6.1 million in cash proceeds and recorded a gain of $5.2 million.

Since the inception of the Site Consolidation program through March 31, 2017, we have recognized aggregate special charges of $25.0 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 substantially complete and, for the year to date period ended March 31, 2017, 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 $2.0 million and $3.1 million in the prior year second quarter and year to date periods ended March 31, 2016. Since the inception of the 2014 global transformation program through March 31, 2017, we have recognized aggregate special charges of $43.6 million. We do not expect to incur further 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 ended March 31, 2017 was as follows:



Balance at September 30, 2016	$	14.7
Expenses	5.1
Cash Payments	(7.6		)
Reversals	(0.3		)
Balance at March 31, 2017	$	11.9