valvoline made a discretionary contribution of $ 394 million to the u.s. qualified pension plan funded by the net proceeds from the issuance of 4.375 % senior unsecured notes due 2025 ( the “ 2025 notes ” ) with an aggregate principal amount of $ 400 million as described further in note 11 of the notes to consolidated financial statements included in item 8 of part ii of this annual report on form 10-k. in addition , valvoline purchased a non-participating annuity contract using plan assets for an insurer to pay and administer future pension benefits for approximately 6,000 participants within the qualified u.s. pension plan . as a result , valvoline transferred $ 585 million of pension benefit obligations in exchange for a similar amount of plan assets . finally , given the impact these actions had on the funded status of the u.s. qualified pension plan , the company also shifted its target asset allocation toward more fixed income securities to better match asset duration to that of the pension plan liabilities . these actions have been leverage neutral to the company and as a result of improved funded status , management does not expect significant required cash contributions to the u.s. qualified pension plan for several years and expects administrative costs to be reduced . these actions resulted in meaningful cash tax savings due to the company 's ability to reduce u.s. taxable income for these contributions . these significant cash tax savings will continue in future periods as the company utilizes the net operating loss carryforward in 2017 to offset future u.s. taxable income generated from operations . at the end of fiscal 2017 , total pension benefit and other postretirement obligations were $ 2.4 billion compared to $ 3.2 billion at the end of fiscal 2016 and total funded status improved to 85 % in 2017 from 72 % in 2016. for further information regarding these actions and the company 's pension and other postretirement obligations , refer to note 14 of the notes to consolidated financial statements included in item 8 of part ii of this annual report on form 10-k. business strategy valvoline 's key business and growth strategies include : growing and strengthening valvoline 's quick lube network through organic store expansion , opportunistic , high-quality acquisitions in both core and new markets within the vioc system and strong sales efforts to partner with new express care operators , in addition to continued same-store sales growth and profitability within valvoline 's existing vioc system stores by attracting new customers and increasing customer satisfaction , customer loyalty and average transaction size ; accelerating international growth across key markets where demand for premium lubricants is growing , such as china , india and select countries in latin america , by building strong distribution channels in under-served geographies , replacing less successful distributors and improving brand awareness among installer customers in those regions ; and leveraging innovation , both in terms of product development , packaging , marketing and the implementation of valvoline 's new digital infrastructure , to strengthen market share and profitability . use of non-gaap measures valvoline has included within this document several non-gaap measures , on both a consolidated and reportable segment basis , which are not defined within u.s. gaap and do not purport to be alternatives to net income or cash flows from operating activities as measures of operating performance or cash flows . the following are the non-gaap measures management has included and how management defines them : ebitda , which management defines as net income , plus income tax expense/benefit , net interest and other financing expenses , and depreciation and amortization ; ebitda margin , which management defines as ebitda divided by sales ; adjusted ebitda , which management defines as ebitda adjusted for losses/gains on pension and other postretirement plan remeasurements , impairment of equity investment , and other items ( which can include costs related to the separation from ashland , impact of significant acquisitions or divestitures , restructuring costs , or other non-operational income/costs not directly attributable to the underlying business ) ; 29 adjusted ebitda margin , which management defines as adjusted ebitda divided by sales ; and free cash flow , which management defines as operating cash flows less capital expenditures and certain other adjustments as applicable . these measures are not prepared in accordance with u.s. gaap , contain management 's best estimates of cost allocations and shared resource costs . management believes the use of non-gaap measures on a consolidated and reportable segment basis assists investors in understanding the ongoing operating performance of valvoline 's business by presenting comparable financial results between periods . the non-gaap information provided is used by valvoline 's management and may not be comparable to similar measures disclosed by other companies , because of differing methods used by other companies in calculating ebitda and adjusted ebitda . ebitda and adjusted ebitda provide a supplemental presentation of valvoline 's operating performance on a consolidated and reportable segment basis . adjusted ebitda generally includes adjustments for unusual , non-operational or restructuring-related activities . valvoline 's consolidated financial statements include actuarial gains and losses for defined benefit pension and other postretirement benefit plans recognized annually in the fourth quarter of each fiscal year and whenever a plan is determined to qualify for a remeasurement during a fiscal year . actuarial gains and losses occur when actual experience differs from the estimates used to allocate the change in value of pension and other postretirement benefit plans to expense throughout the year or when assumptions change , as they may each year . story_separator_special_tag each of these non-gaap measures is defined as follows : ebitda ( operating income plus depreciation and amortization ) , adjusted ebitda ( ebitda adjusted for key items , which may include adjustments for significant acquisitions or divestitures , as applicable ) , and adjusted ebitda margin ( adjusted ebitda divided by sales ) . valvoline does not generally allocate items to each reportable segment below operating income , such as interest expense and income taxes . as a result , reportable segment ebitda and adjusted ebitda are reconciled directly to operating income since it is the most directly comparable consolidated statements of comprehensive income caption . 35 the following table shows sales , operating income and statistical operating information by reportable segment for the years ended september 30 , 2017 , 2016 and 2015. replace_table_token_17_th ( a ) gross profit is defined as sales , less cost of sales . ( b ) excludes volumes from unconsolidated joint ventures . core north america 2017 compared to 2016 core north america sales increased $ 25 million , or 3 % , to $ 1,004 million in 2017. higher product pricing and favorable changes in product mix increased sales by $ 21 million , or 2 % , and $ 20 million , or 2 % , respectively . lower volume levels decreased sales by $ 16 million , or 2 % . 36 gross profit decreased $ 6 million during 2017 compared to 2016. higher raw material costs , partially offset by higher product pricing and decreased gross profit by $ 14 million , while changes in volume and product mix combined for a net increase in gross profit by $ 8 million . gross profit as a percent of sales ( or gross profit margin ) during the year decreased 1.7 percentage points to 39.5 % driven largely by higher raw materials costs during 2017 as compared to 2016. selling , general and administrative expense increased $ 7 million during the current period , primarily as a result of $ 2 million of increased employee costs , and an $ 8 million increase of shared expenses partially due to stand-alone public company costs , net of a $ 3 million decrease in bad debts . operating income totaled $ 199 million in the current period as compared to $ 212 million in the prior year period . ebitda decreased $ 14 million to $ 214 million in 2017. ebitda margin decreased 2.0 percentage points to 21.3 % in 2017 . 2016 compared to 2015 core north america sales decreased $ 82 million , or 8 % , to $ 979 million in 2016. lower product pricing and the disposition of car care products decreased sales by $ 68 million , or 6 % , and $ 45 million , or 4 % , respectively . changes in product mix and higher volume levels increased sales by $ 27 million , or 3 % , and $ 7 million , respectively . unfavorable foreign currency exchange decreased sales by $ 3 million primarily due to the u.s. dollar strengthening compared to the canadian dollar . gross profit increased $ 15 million during 2016 compared to 2015. lower product costs , partially offset by lower product pricing , increased gross profit by $ 12 million , while changes in volume and product mix combined to increase gross profit by $ 11 million . the divestiture of car care products and unfavorable foreign currency exchange decreased gross profit by $ 7 million and $ 1 million , respectively . gross profit as a percent of sales ( or gross profit margin ) during the current period increased 4.6 percentage points to 41.2 % . selling , general and administrative expense ( which , for reportable segment purposes , includes corporate expense allocation costs ) increased $ 3 million during the current period , primarily as a result of $ 4 million of increased consulting and legal costs , $ 2 million of increased bad debt expense , $ 2 million of increased research and development expenses and $ 1 million of salaries expense . these increases were partially offset by cost savings from the divestiture of car care products of $ 6 million . equity and other income remained consistent compared to the prior year . operating income totaled $ 212 million in the current period as compared to $ 200 million in the prior year period . ebitda increased $ 11 million to $ 228 million in 2016. ebitda margin increased 2.8 percentage points to 23.3 % in 2016. ebitda and adjusted ebitda reconciliation the following ebitda presentation is provided as a means to enhance the understanding of financial measurements that valvoline has internally determined to be relevant measures of comparison for the results of core north america . there were no unusual or key items that affected comparability for adjusted ebitda for all periods presented herein . replace_table_token_18_th quick lubes 2017 compared to 2016 quick lubes sales increased $ 84 million , or 18 % , to $ 541 million during 2017. volume increased sales by $ 29 million as lubricant sales gallons increased to 22.5 million gallons during 2017. acquisitions increased sales by $ 30 million and favorable product pricing increased sales by approximately $ 17 million . favorable changes in product mix increased sales $ 8 million . gross profit increased $ 28 million during 2017 compared to 2016. increases in volumes and higher premium product mix combined to increase gross profit by approximately $ 15 million . favorable product pricing , partially offset by increased raw material costs , increased gross profit by $ 7 million , while acquisitions increased gross profit by $ 6 million . gross profit margin during the current year decreased 1.3 percentage points to 40.3 % driven largely by higher raw materials costs . 37 selling , general and administrative expense increased $ 15 million during 2017. the increase was primarily a

total debt $ 1,124 $ 743 ( a ) amount includes $ 2 million of debt acquired through acquisitions , and is net of $ 13 million and $ 9 million of debt issuance cost discounts as of september 30 , 2017 and 2016 , respectively , which are direct reductions from the carrying amount of debt . during august 2017 , valvoline completed the 2025 notes issuance with an aggregate principal amount of $ 400 million , which is outstanding as of september 30 , 2017. the net proceeds of the offering of approximately $ 394 million ( after deducting initial purchasers ' discounts and debt issuance costs ) were used to make a voluntary contribution to the company 's u.s. qualified pension plan . this discretionary contribution significantly reduces the underfunded position of this plan and is expected to minimize risk and long-term volatility of the company 's underfunded obligation associated with this pension plan . as a result , overall balance sheet obligations have not materially changed . during the first fiscal quarter of 2017 , valvoline entered into an accounts receivable securitization facility with an extendable one-year term , which makes available up to $ 125 million . valvoline borrowed $ 75 million under this facility and applied the net proceeds to reduce term loan borrowings by the same amount , which is described further below . as of september 30 , 2017 , $ 75 million remains outstanding under this facility . during 2016 , valvoline incurred $ 875 million in indebtedness under the 2016 senior credit agreement , which provided for an aggregate principal amount of $ 1,325 million in senior secured credit facilities , comprised of ( i ) a five-year $ 875 million term loan and ( ii ) a five-year $ 450 million revolving credit facility ( including a $ 100 million letter of credit sublimit ) . during 2016 , valvoline fully drew on the term loans , receiving approximately $ 865 million ( after deducting fees and expenses ) and borrowed $ 137 million under the revolving facility .


 Write a concise suspicious activity report of the following text delimited by triple backquotes. Return your response as a formal report which covers the key points highlighting the location,dates,entity names and account holder information in chronological order of the text.
     ```total debt $ 1,124 $ 743 ( a ) amount includes $ 2 million of debt acquired through acquisitions , and is net of $ 13 million and $ 9 million of debt issuance cost discounts as of september 30 , 2017 and 2016 , respectively , which are direct reductions from the carrying amount of debt . during august 2017 , valvoline completed the 2025 notes issuance with an aggregate principal amount of $ 400 million , which is outstanding as of september 30 , 2017. the net proceeds of the offering of approximately $ 394 million ( after deducting initial purchasers ' discounts and debt issuance costs ) were used to make a voluntary contribution to the company 's u.s. qualified pension plan . this discretionary contribution significantly reduces the underfunded position of this plan and is expected to minimize risk and long-term volatility of the company 's underfunded obligation associated with this pension plan . as a result , overall balance sheet obligations have not materially changed . during the first fiscal quarter of 2017 , valvoline entered into an accounts receivable securitization facility with an extendable one-year term , which makes available up to $ 125 million . valvoline borrowed $ 75 million under this facility and applied the net proceeds to reduce term loan borrowings by the same amount , which is described further below . as of september 30 , 2017 , $ 75 million remains outstanding under this facility . during 2016 , valvoline incurred $ 875 million in indebtedness under the 2016 senior credit agreement , which provided for an aggregate principal amount of $ 1,325 million in senior secured credit facilities , comprised of ( i ) a five-year $ 875 million term loan and ( ii ) a five-year $ 450 million revolving credit facility ( including a $ 100 million letter of credit sublimit ) . during 2016 , valvoline fully drew on the term loans , receiving approximately $ 865 million ( after deducting fees and expenses ) and borrowed $ 137 million under the revolving facility .
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 Suspicious Activity Report : valvoline made a discretionary contribution of $ 394 million to the u.s. qualified pension plan funded by the net proceeds from the issuance of 4.375 % senior unsecured notes due 2025 ( the “ 2025 notes ” ) with an aggregate principal amount of $ 400 million as described further in note 11 of the notes to consolidated financial statements included in item 8 of part ii of this annual report on form 10-k. in addition , valvoline purchased a non-participating annuity contract using plan assets for an insurer to pay and administer future pension benefits for approximately 6,000 participants within the qualified u.s. pension plan . as a result , valvoline transferred $ 585 million of pension benefit obligations in exchange for a similar amount of plan assets . finally , given the impact these actions had on the funded status of the u.s. qualified pension plan , the company also shifted its target asset allocation toward more fixed income securities to better match asset duration to that of the pension plan liabilities . these actions have been leverage neutral to the company and as a result of improved funded status , management does not expect significant required cash contributions to the u.s. qualified pension plan for several years and expects administrative costs to be reduced . these actions resulted in meaningful cash tax savings due to the company 's ability to reduce u.s. taxable income for these contributions . these significant cash tax savings will continue in future periods as the company utilizes the net operating loss carryforward in 2017 to offset future u.s. taxable income generated from operations . at the end of fiscal 2017 , total pension benefit and other postretirement obligations were $ 2.4 billion compared to $ 3.2 billion at the end of fiscal 2016 and total funded status improved to 85 % in 2017 from 72 % in 2016. for further information regarding these actions and the company 's pension and other postretirement obligations , refer to note 14 of the notes to consolidated financial statements included in item 8 of part ii of this annual report on form 10-k. business strategy valvoline 's key business and growth strategies include : growing and strengthening valvoline 's quick lube network through organic store expansion , opportunistic , high-quality acquisitions in both core and new markets within the vioc system and strong sales efforts to partner with new express care operators , in addition to continued same-store sales growth and profitability within valvoline 's existing vioc system stores by attracting new customers and increasing customer satisfaction , customer loyalty and average transaction size ; accelerating international growth across key markets where demand for premium lubricants is growing , such as china , india and select countries in latin america , by building strong distribution channels in under-served geographies , replacing less successful distributors and improving brand awareness among installer customers in those regions ; and leveraging innovation , both in terms of product development , packaging , marketing and the implementation of valvoline 's new digital infrastructure , to strengthen market share and profitability . use of non-gaap measures valvoline has included within this document several non-gaap measures , on both a consolidated and reportable segment basis , which are not defined within u.s. gaap and do not purport to be alternatives to net income or cash flows from operating activities as measures of operating performance or cash flows . the following are the non-gaap measures management has included and how management defines them : ebitda , which management defines as net income , plus income tax expense/benefit , net interest and other financing expenses , and depreciation and amortization ; ebitda margin , which management defines as ebitda divided by sales ; adjusted ebitda , which management defines as ebitda adjusted for losses/gains on pension and other postretirement plan remeasurements , impairment of equity investment , and other items ( which can include costs related to the separation from ashland , impact of significant acquisitions or divestitures , restructuring costs , or other non-operational income/costs not directly attributable to the underlying business ) ; 29 adjusted ebitda margin , which management defines as adjusted ebitda divided by sales ; and free cash flow , which management defines as operating cash flows less capital expenditures and certain other adjustments as applicable . these measures are not prepared in accordance with u.s. gaap , contain management 's best estimates of cost allocations and shared resource costs . management believes the use of non-gaap measures on a consolidated and reportable segment basis assists investors in understanding the ongoing operating performance of valvoline 's business by presenting comparable financial results between periods . the non-gaap information provided is used by valvoline 's management and may not be comparable to similar measures disclosed by other companies , because of differing methods used by other companies in calculating ebitda and adjusted ebitda . ebitda and adjusted ebitda provide a supplemental presentation of valvoline 's operating performance on a consolidated and reportable segment basis . adjusted ebitda generally includes adjustments for unusual , non-operational or restructuring-related activities . valvoline 's consolidated financial statements include actuarial gains and losses for defined benefit pension and other postretirement benefit plans recognized annually in the fourth quarter of each fiscal year and whenever a plan is determined to qualify for a remeasurement during a fiscal year . actuarial gains and losses occur when actual experience differs from the estimates used to allocate the change in value of pension and other postretirement benefit plans to expense throughout the year or when assumptions change , as they may each year . story_separator_special_tag each of these non-gaap measures is defined as follows : ebitda ( operating income plus depreciation and amortization ) , adjusted ebitda ( ebitda adjusted for key items , which may include adjustments for significant acquisitions or divestitures , as applicable ) , and adjusted ebitda margin ( adjusted ebitda divided by sales ) . valvoline does not generally allocate items to each reportable segment below operating income , such as interest expense and income taxes . as a result , reportable segment ebitda and adjusted ebitda are reconciled directly to operating income since it is the most directly comparable consolidated statements of comprehensive income caption . 35 the following table shows sales , operating income and statistical operating information by reportable segment for the years ended september 30 , 2017 , 2016 and 2015. replace_table_token_17_th ( a ) gross profit is defined as sales , less cost of sales . ( b ) excludes volumes from unconsolidated joint ventures . core north america 2017 compared to 2016 core north america sales increased $ 25 million , or 3 % , to $ 1,004 million in 2017. higher product pricing and favorable changes in product mix increased sales by $ 21 million , or 2 % , and $ 20 million , or 2 % , respectively . lower volume levels decreased sales by $ 16 million , or 2 % . 36 gross profit decreased $ 6 million during 2017 compared to 2016. higher raw material costs , partially offset by higher product pricing and decreased gross profit by $ 14 million , while changes in volume and product mix combined for a net increase in gross profit by $ 8 million . gross profit as a percent of sales ( or gross profit margin ) during the year decreased 1.7 percentage points to 39.5 % driven largely by higher raw materials costs during 2017 as compared to 2016. selling , general and administrative expense increased $ 7 million during the current period , primarily as a result of $ 2 million of increased employee costs , and an $ 8 million increase of shared expenses partially due to stand-alone public company costs , net of a $ 3 million decrease in bad debts . operating income totaled $ 199 million in the current period as compared to $ 212 million in the prior year period . ebitda decreased $ 14 million to $ 214 million in 2017. ebitda margin decreased 2.0 percentage points to 21.3 % in 2017 . 2016 compared to 2015 core north america sales decreased $ 82 million , or 8 % , to $ 979 million in 2016. lower product pricing and the disposition of car care products decreased sales by $ 68 million , or 6 % , and $ 45 million , or 4 % , respectively . changes in product mix and higher volume levels increased sales by $ 27 million , or 3 % , and $ 7 million , respectively . unfavorable foreign currency exchange decreased sales by $ 3 million primarily due to the u.s. dollar strengthening compared to the canadian dollar . gross profit increased $ 15 million during 2016 compared to 2015. lower product costs , partially offset by lower product pricing , increased gross profit by $ 12 million , while changes in volume and product mix combined to increase gross profit by $ 11 million . the divestiture of car care products and unfavorable foreign currency exchange decreased gross profit by $ 7 million and $ 1 million , respectively . gross profit as a percent of sales ( or gross profit margin ) during the current period increased 4.6 percentage points to 41.2 % . selling , general and administrative expense ( which , for reportable segment purposes , includes corporate expense allocation costs ) increased $ 3 million during the current period , primarily as a result of $ 4 million of increased consulting and legal costs , $ 2 million of increased bad debt expense , $ 2 million of increased research and development expenses and $ 1 million of salaries expense . these increases were partially offset by cost savings from the divestiture of car care products of $ 6 million . equity and other income remained consistent compared to the prior year . operating income totaled $ 212 million in the current period as compared to $ 200 million in the prior year period . ebitda increased $ 11 million to $ 228 million in 2016. ebitda margin increased 2.8 percentage points to 23.3 % in 2016. ebitda and adjusted ebitda reconciliation the following ebitda presentation is provided as a means to enhance the understanding of financial measurements that valvoline has internally determined to be relevant measures of comparison for the results of core north america . there were no unusual or key items that affected comparability for adjusted ebitda for all periods presented herein . replace_table_token_18_th quick lubes 2017 compared to 2016 quick lubes sales increased $ 84 million , or 18 % , to $ 541 million during 2017. volume increased sales by $ 29 million as lubricant sales gallons increased to 22.5 million gallons during 2017. acquisitions increased sales by $ 30 million and favorable product pricing increased sales by approximately $ 17 million . favorable changes in product mix increased sales $ 8 million . gross profit increased $ 28 million during 2017 compared to 2016. increases in volumes and higher premium product mix combined to increase gross profit by approximately $ 15 million . favorable product pricing , partially offset by increased raw material costs , increased gross profit by $ 7 million , while acquisitions increased gross profit by $ 6 million . gross profit margin during the current year decreased 1.3 percentage points to 40.3 % driven largely by higher raw materials costs . 37 selling , general and administrative expense increased $ 15 million during 2017. the increase was primarily a

