EXIT OR DISPOSAL ACTIVITIES

Liabilities associated with exit or disposal activities are recognized as incurred in accordance with the Exit or Disposal Cost Obligations Topic of the ASC. Qualified exit costs primarily include post-closure rent expenses, incremental post-closure costs and costs of employee terminations. Adjustments may be made to liabilities accrued for qualified exit costs if information becomes available upon which more accurate amounts can be reasonably estimated. Concurrently, property, plant and equipment is tested for impairment in accordance with the Property, Plant and Equipment Topic of the ASC, and if impairment exists, the carrying value of the related assets is reduced to estimated fair value. Additional impairment may be recorded for subsequent revisions in estimated fair value.

In the three months ended March 31, 2018, ten stores in The Americas Group and two branches in the Performance Coatings Group were closed due to lower demand or redundancy. The Company continues to evaluate all legacy operations in response to the Acquisition in order to optimize restructured operations. These Acquisition-related restructuring charges to date are recorded in the Administrative segment as presented in the table below. The following table summarizes the activity and remaining liabilities associated with qualified exit costs at March 31, 2018:



(Thousands of dollars)
			Provisions		Actual
	Balance at		in Cost of		Expenditures			Balance at
	December 31,		Goods Sold		Charged to			March 31,
Exit Plan	2017		or SG&A		Accrual			2018
Administrative segment Acquisition-related restructuring in 2017:
Severance and related costs	$	6,019	$	3,789	$	(5,883	)	$	3,925
Other qualified exit costs	5,541		—		(1,831		)	3,710
Performance Coatings Group stores shutdown in 2017:
Severance and related costs	14		—		(12		)	2
Other qualified exit costs	121		—		(17		)	104
Consumer Brands Group facilities shutdown in 2016:
Severance and related costs	21		10		—			31
Performance Coatings Group stores shutdown in 2016:
Other qualified exit costs	111		—		(21		)	90
Severance and other qualified exit costs for facilities shutdown prior to 2016	1,558		—		(320		)	1,238
Totals	$	13,385	$	3,799	$	(8,084	)	$	9,100

For further details on the Company’s exit or disposal activities, see Note 5 to the Consolidated Financial Statements in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017.