during the year ended december 31 , 2018 , we also completed several distributor to direct sales conversions . the aggregate consideration we transferred in connection with these transactions was $ 4.9 million . in october 2017 , we completed the acquisition of neotract , inc. ( `` neotract `` ) , a medical device company that developed and commercialized the urolift system , a minimally invasive medical device for treating lower urinary tract symptoms due to benign prostatic hyperplasia , or bph . we made initial payments of $ 725.6 million in cash less a favorable working capital adjustment of $ 1.4 million and agreed to pay up to an additional $ 300 million in the aggregate contingent if we achieve specified net sales goals through the end of 2020. we made an additional payment of $ 75 million during 2018 as a result of the achievement of a sales goal for the period from january 1 , 2018 to april 30 , 2018. in february 2017 , we completed the acquisition of vascular solutions , inc. ( “ vascular solutions ” ) , a medical device company that developed and marketed clinical products for use in minimally invasive coronary and peripheral vascular procedures , for an aggregate purchase price of $ 975.5 million . in addition , during the year ended december 31 , 2017 , we completed acquisitions related to our anesthesia and respiratory product portfolios and distributor to direct sales conversions . the total fair value of the consideration related to these acquisitions was $ 80.1 million . u.s. tax legislation u.s. tax legislation commonly referred to as the tax cuts and jobs act ( the “ tcja ” ) was enacted on december 22 , 2017. the legislation significantly changes united states ( or `` u.s. `` ) tax law by , among other things , reducing the u.s. corporate income tax rate from a maximum of 35 % to 21 % ; implementing a territorial tax system , generally 34 providing for , among other things , a dividends received deduction on the foreign source portion of dividends received from a foreign corporation if specified conditions are met ; and imposing a one-time repatriation tax on undistributed post-1986 earnings and profits of foreign subsidiaries , which will be deemed repatriated for purposes of the tax . on december 22 , 2017 , the sec staff issued staff accounting bulletin no . 118 ( “ sab 118 ” ) to address the application of u.s. gaap in situations where a company does not have the necessary information available , prepared , or analyzed ( including computations ) in reasonable detail to complete the accounting for certain income tax effects of the tcja . sab 118 states that in these circumstances , if the company can determine a reasonable estimate for the income tax effects , the sec staff would not object if the company includes in its financial statements the reasonable estimate it has determined ( and the sec staff also expressed its belief that it would not be appropriate for a company to exclude a reasonable estimate from its financial statements to the extent a reasonable estimate has been determined ) . we included a provisional $ 107.9 million net tax expense related to the deemed repatriated earnings and the revaluation of deferred tax assets and liabilities in our consolidated financial statements for the year ended december 31 , 2017. during 2018 , we made adjustments to the provisional amounts for taxes on deemed repatriated earnings and the revaluation of deferred tax assets and liabilities due to additional analysis , changes in interpretations and in our assumptions , and the issuance of additional regulatory guidance . as prescribed under sab 118 , these adjustments were identified and recorded as discrete adjustments in the period in which such changes were made . during 2018 , we recognized a net $ 2.3 million discrete tax benefit as a result of adjustments to the provisional tax impacts of the tcja included in our consolidated financial statements for the year ended december 31 , 2017. these adjustments included a $ 0.2 million reduction in the provisional tax on deemed repatriated earnings and a $ 2.1 million tax benefit from changes in our revaluation of deferred tax assets and liabilities . we completed our accounting for these impacts during the fourth quarter 2018. health care reform in 2010 , the patient protection and affordable care act ( as amended , the `` affordable care act `` ) was signed into law . the legislation is far-reaching and is intended to expand access to health insurance coverage and improve the quality and reduce the costs of healthcare . for medical device companies such as teleflex , the expansion of medical insurance coverage should lead to greater utilization of the products we manufacture , but the provisions of the legislation designed to contain the cost of healthcare could negatively affect pricing of our products and encourage patient outcome driven results . the overall impact of the affordable care act on our business is yet to be determined , mainly due to uncertainties around future customer behaviors , which we believe will be affected by reimbursement factors such as insurance coverage , statistics , patient outcomes and patient satisfaction . [ several legislative initiatives to repeal the affordable care act and adopt a form of replacement legislation were proposed , but not adopted , in 2017. however , the tcja eliminated the individual mandate under the affordable care act , which generally required most americans to maintain a minimum level of health insurance coverage . ] as a result , the level of insurance premium prices for participants in insurance exchanges under the affordable care act is subject to increased uncertainty . story_separator_special_tag the following discussion provides additional details with respect to our restructuring programs for which we incurred restructuring charges in 2018 : 2018 footprint realignment plan on may 1 , 2018 , we initiated a restructuring plan involving the relocation of certain european manufacturing operations to existing lower-cost locations , the outsourcing of certain european distribution operations and related workforce reductions . these actions commenced in the second quarter 2018 and are expected to be substantially completed by the end of 2024. we estimate that we will incur aggregate pre-tax restructuring and restructuring related charges in connection with the 2018 footprint realignment plan of $ 102 million to $ 133 million , of which , we estimate that $ 99 million to $ 127 million of these charges will result in future cash outlays . additionally , we expect to incur $ 19 million to $ 23 million in aggregate capital expenditures under the plan , most of which we expect to be incurred by the end of 2021. we began realizing plan-related savings in 2018 and expect to achieve annual pre-tax savings of $ 25 million to $ 30 million once the plan is fully implemented . 39 2016 footprint realignment plan in 2016 , we initiated a restructuring plan involving the relocation of certain manufacturing operations , the relocation and outsourcing of certain distribution operations and a related workforce reduction at certain of our facilities ( the `` 2016 footprint realignment plan `` ) . these actions commenced in the first quarter 2016 and were substantially completed by the end of 2018 . 2014 footprint realignment plan in april 2014 , we initiated a restructuring plan ( the `` 2014 footprint realignment plan `` ) involving the consolidation of operations and a related reduction in workforce at certain facilities , and the relocation of manufacturing operations from certain higher-cost locations to existing lower-cost locations . we estimate that we will incur aggregate pre-tax charges in connection with the 2014 footprint realignment plan of approximately $ 47 million to $ 52 million . additionally , we estimate that we will achieve annual pre-tax savings of $ 26 million to $ 29 million and we expect the plan will be substantially complete by the end of 2021 . 2017 vascular solutions integration and emea restructuring programs during the first quarter 2017 , the company committed to restructuring programs related to the integration of vascular solutions into teleflex and to the centralization of certain administrative functions in europe . both programs were substantially completed during 2018 and as a result , the company expects future restructuring expenses associated with the program , if any , to be nominal . the following table provides information regarding restructuring charges we have incurred with respect to each of our restructuring programs , as well as impairment charges , for the years ended december 31 , 2018 , 2017 , and 2016. the restructuring charges listed in the table primarily consist of termination benefits . replace_table_token_9_th ( 1 ) other restructuring programs include the other 2016 restructuring programs ( in 2017 and 2016 ) and the 2017 pyng integration program ( in 2018 2017 ) . we committed to the 2017 pyng integration program during the second quarter 2017 , following our acquisition of pyng medical corp in april 2017. each of these programs were substantially completed as of december 31 , 2018 . ( 2 ) impairment charges recognized in 2018 included $ 17.2 million related to certain intellectual property and other assets associated with products that were eliminated from our interventional product portfolio . impairment charges recognized in 2016 included $ 41.0 million related to a discontinued intellectual property research and development ( ipr & d ) project and two properties that were sold during the first quarter 2017. interest expense replace_table_token_10_th comparison of 2018 and 2017 the increase in interest expense for the year ended december 31 , 2018 compared to the prior year was primarily due to an increase in average debt outstanding resulting from additional borrowings under our principal credit facility , as well as the november 2017 issuance of our 4.625 % senior notes due 2027 ( `` 2027 notes `` ) . the increase in interest expense was also the result of a higher average interest rate on our debt . 40 comparison of 2017 and 2016 the increase in interest expense for the year ended december 31 , 2017 compared to the prior year was primarily due to an increase in average debt outstanding , mainly attributable to borrowings under our senior credit agreement ( the `` credit agreement `` ) that were utilized to fund the vascular solutions and neotract acquisitions , offset by a slight decline in the average interest rate on debt . loss on extinguishment of debt replace_table_token_11_th for the years ended december 31 , 2017 and 2016 , the loss on the extinguishment of debt was related to our repurchases or the conversion of portions of the $ 400 million principal amount of our 3.875 % convertible senior subordinated notes ( the `` convertible notes `` ) that were issued in 2010 and matured in august 2017. gain on sale of assets replace_table_token_12_th during the year ended december 31 , 2018 and 2016 , we recognized a gain on the sale of a land parcel and on the sale of buildings , respectively . taxes on income from continuing operations replace_table_token_13_th we generate substantial earnings from our international operations . most of the international jurisdictions in which we file tax returns historically have had statutory tax rates that are lower than the united states statutory tax rate ; as a result , our consolidated effective income tax rate for 2017 ( excluding the impact of the tcja ) and earlier years has been substantially below the united states statutory tax rate . the principal international jurisdictions in which the statutory tax rate in 2017 and earlier years is lower than the united states

cash flow from operating activities net cash provided by operating activities from continuing operations was $ 435.1 million during 2018 and $ 426.3 million during 2017. the $ 8.8 million increase is attributable to favorable operating results partially offset by higher income tax payments in 2018 as compared to 2017 and a net unfavorable impact of changes in working capital . the net unfavorable impact from changes in working capital was due a net increase in inventories and a net increase in accounts receivable , partially offset by an increase in accounts payable , accrued expenses and other liabilities . the increase in inventories for 2018 was $ 37.2 million compared to an increase of $ 22.4 million for 2017. the net increase in inventories is attributable to higher inventory purchases associated with ongoing business growth , primarily within our interventional urology business . the increase in accounts receivable for 2018 was $ 23.4 million compared to an increase of $ 11.0 million for 2017. the net increase in accounts receivable is attributable to higher net revenues during 2018 and a decrease in receivables outstanding sold during 2018 as compared to 2017. in december 2018 , we sold $ 12.7 million of receivables outstanding with publicly funded hospitals in italy and portugal compared to 2017 when we sold $ 16.1 million of outstanding receivables related to public hospitals in italy . the increase in accounts payable , accrued expenses and other liabilities for 2018 was $ 63.4 million compared to an increase of $ 39.0 million for 2017. the increase is attributable to increased restructuring activity primarily related to the 2018 footprint realignment plan partially offset by lower payroll related accruals .


 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.
     ```cash flow from operating activities net cash provided by operating activities from continuing operations was $ 435.1 million during 2018 and $ 426.3 million during 2017. the $ 8.8 million increase is attributable to favorable operating results partially offset by higher income tax payments in 2018 as compared to 2017 and a net unfavorable impact of changes in working capital . the net unfavorable impact from changes in working capital was due a net increase in inventories and a net increase in accounts receivable , partially offset by an increase in accounts payable , accrued expenses and other liabilities . the increase in inventories for 2018 was $ 37.2 million compared to an increase of $ 22.4 million for 2017. the net increase in inventories is attributable to higher inventory purchases associated with ongoing business growth , primarily within our interventional urology business . the increase in accounts receivable for 2018 was $ 23.4 million compared to an increase of $ 11.0 million for 2017. the net increase in accounts receivable is attributable to higher net revenues during 2018 and a decrease in receivables outstanding sold during 2018 as compared to 2017. in december 2018 , we sold $ 12.7 million of receivables outstanding with publicly funded hospitals in italy and portugal compared to 2017 when we sold $ 16.1 million of outstanding receivables related to public hospitals in italy . the increase in accounts payable , accrued expenses and other liabilities for 2018 was $ 63.4 million compared to an increase of $ 39.0 million for 2017. the increase is attributable to increased restructuring activity primarily related to the 2018 footprint realignment plan partially offset by lower payroll related accruals .
```    
 Suspicious Activity Report : during the year ended december 31 , 2018 , we also completed several distributor to direct sales conversions . the aggregate consideration we transferred in connection with these transactions was $ 4.9 million . in october 2017 , we completed the acquisition of neotract , inc. ( `` neotract `` ) , a medical device company that developed and commercialized the urolift system , a minimally invasive medical device for treating lower urinary tract symptoms due to benign prostatic hyperplasia , or bph . we made initial payments of $ 725.6 million in cash less a favorable working capital adjustment of $ 1.4 million and agreed to pay up to an additional $ 300 million in the aggregate contingent if we achieve specified net sales goals through the end of 2020. we made an additional payment of $ 75 million during 2018 as a result of the achievement of a sales goal for the period from january 1 , 2018 to april 30 , 2018. in february 2017 , we completed the acquisition of vascular solutions , inc. ( “ vascular solutions ” ) , a medical device company that developed and marketed clinical products for use in minimally invasive coronary and peripheral vascular procedures , for an aggregate purchase price of $ 975.5 million . in addition , during the year ended december 31 , 2017 , we completed acquisitions related to our anesthesia and respiratory product portfolios and distributor to direct sales conversions . the total fair value of the consideration related to these acquisitions was $ 80.1 million . u.s. tax legislation u.s. tax legislation commonly referred to as the tax cuts and jobs act ( the “ tcja ” ) was enacted on december 22 , 2017. the legislation significantly changes united states ( or `` u.s. `` ) tax law by , among other things , reducing the u.s. corporate income tax rate from a maximum of 35 % to 21 % ; implementing a territorial tax system , generally 34 providing for , among other things , a dividends received deduction on the foreign source portion of dividends received from a foreign corporation if specified conditions are met ; and imposing a one-time repatriation tax on undistributed post-1986 earnings and profits of foreign subsidiaries , which will be deemed repatriated for purposes of the tax . on december 22 , 2017 , the sec staff issued staff accounting bulletin no . 118 ( “ sab 118 ” ) to address the application of u.s. gaap in situations where a company does not have the necessary information available , prepared , or analyzed ( including computations ) in reasonable detail to complete the accounting for certain income tax effects of the tcja . sab 118 states that in these circumstances , if the company can determine a reasonable estimate for the income tax effects , the sec staff would not object if the company includes in its financial statements the reasonable estimate it has determined ( and the sec staff also expressed its belief that it would not be appropriate for a company to exclude a reasonable estimate from its financial statements to the extent a reasonable estimate has been determined ) . we included a provisional $ 107.9 million net tax expense related to the deemed repatriated earnings and the revaluation of deferred tax assets and liabilities in our consolidated financial statements for the year ended december 31 , 2017. during 2018 , we made adjustments to the provisional amounts for taxes on deemed repatriated earnings and the revaluation of deferred tax assets and liabilities due to additional analysis , changes in interpretations and in our assumptions , and the issuance of additional regulatory guidance . as prescribed under sab 118 , these adjustments were identified and recorded as discrete adjustments in the period in which such changes were made . during 2018 , we recognized a net $ 2.3 million discrete tax benefit as a result of adjustments to the provisional tax impacts of the tcja included in our consolidated financial statements for the year ended december 31 , 2017. these adjustments included a $ 0.2 million reduction in the provisional tax on deemed repatriated earnings and a $ 2.1 million tax benefit from changes in our revaluation of deferred tax assets and liabilities . we completed our accounting for these impacts during the fourth quarter 2018. health care reform in 2010 , the patient protection and affordable care act ( as amended , the `` affordable care act `` ) was signed into law . the legislation is far-reaching and is intended to expand access to health insurance coverage and improve the quality and reduce the costs of healthcare . for medical device companies such as teleflex , the expansion of medical insurance coverage should lead to greater utilization of the products we manufacture , but the provisions of the legislation designed to contain the cost of healthcare could negatively affect pricing of our products and encourage patient outcome driven results . the overall impact of the affordable care act on our business is yet to be determined , mainly due to uncertainties around future customer behaviors , which we believe will be affected by reimbursement factors such as insurance coverage , statistics , patient outcomes and patient satisfaction . [ several legislative initiatives to repeal the affordable care act and adopt a form of replacement legislation were proposed , but not adopted , in 2017. however , the tcja eliminated the individual mandate under the affordable care act , which generally required most americans to maintain a minimum level of health insurance coverage . ] as a result , the level of insurance premium prices for participants in insurance exchanges under the affordable care act is subject to increased uncertainty . story_separator_special_tag the following discussion provides additional details with respect to our restructuring programs for which we incurred restructuring charges in 2018 : 2018 footprint realignment plan on may 1 , 2018 , we initiated a restructuring plan involving the relocation of certain european manufacturing operations to existing lower-cost locations , the outsourcing of certain european distribution operations and related workforce reductions . these actions commenced in the second quarter 2018 and are expected to be substantially completed by the end of 2024. we estimate that we will incur aggregate pre-tax restructuring and restructuring related charges in connection with the 2018 footprint realignment plan of $ 102 million to $ 133 million , of which , we estimate that $ 99 million to $ 127 million of these charges will result in future cash outlays . additionally , we expect to incur $ 19 million to $ 23 million in aggregate capital expenditures under the plan , most of which we expect to be incurred by the end of 2021. we began realizing plan-related savings in 2018 and expect to achieve annual pre-tax savings of $ 25 million to $ 30 million once the plan is fully implemented . 39 2016 footprint realignment plan in 2016 , we initiated a restructuring plan involving the relocation of certain manufacturing operations , the relocation and outsourcing of certain distribution operations and a related workforce reduction at certain of our facilities ( the `` 2016 footprint realignment plan `` ) . these actions commenced in the first quarter 2016 and were substantially completed by the end of 2018 . 2014 footprint realignment plan in april 2014 , we initiated a restructuring plan ( the `` 2014 footprint realignment plan `` ) involving the consolidation of operations and a related reduction in workforce at certain facilities , and the relocation of manufacturing operations from certain higher-cost locations to existing lower-cost locations . we estimate that we will incur aggregate pre-tax charges in connection with the 2014 footprint realignment plan of approximately $ 47 million to $ 52 million . additionally , we estimate that we will achieve annual pre-tax savings of $ 26 million to $ 29 million and we expect the plan will be substantially complete by the end of 2021 . 2017 vascular solutions integration and emea restructuring programs during the first quarter 2017 , the company committed to restructuring programs related to the integration of vascular solutions into teleflex and to the centralization of certain administrative functions in europe . both programs were substantially completed during 2018 and as a result , the company expects future restructuring expenses associated with the program , if any , to be nominal . the following table provides information regarding restructuring charges we have incurred with respect to each of our restructuring programs , as well as impairment charges , for the years ended december 31 , 2018 , 2017 , and 2016. the restructuring charges listed in the table primarily consist of termination benefits . replace_table_token_9_th ( 1 ) other restructuring programs include the other 2016 restructuring programs ( in 2017 and 2016 ) and the 2017 pyng integration program ( in 2018 2017 ) . we committed to the 2017 pyng integration program during the second quarter 2017 , following our acquisition of pyng medical corp in april 2017. each of these programs were substantially completed as of december 31 , 2018 . ( 2 ) impairment charges recognized in 2018 included $ 17.2 million related to certain intellectual property and other assets associated with products that were eliminated from our interventional product portfolio . impairment charges recognized in 2016 included $ 41.0 million related to a discontinued intellectual property research and development ( ipr & d ) project and two properties that were sold during the first quarter 2017. interest expense replace_table_token_10_th comparison of 2018 and 2017 the increase in interest expense for the year ended december 31 , 2018 compared to the prior year was primarily due to an increase in average debt outstanding resulting from additional borrowings under our principal credit facility , as well as the november 2017 issuance of our 4.625 % senior notes due 2027 ( `` 2027 notes `` ) . the increase in interest expense was also the result of a higher average interest rate on our debt . 40 comparison of 2017 and 2016 the increase in interest expense for the year ended december 31 , 2017 compared to the prior year was primarily due to an increase in average debt outstanding , mainly attributable to borrowings under our senior credit agreement ( the `` credit agreement `` ) that were utilized to fund the vascular solutions and neotract acquisitions , offset by a slight decline in the average interest rate on debt . loss on extinguishment of debt replace_table_token_11_th for the years ended december 31 , 2017 and 2016 , the loss on the extinguishment of debt was related to our repurchases or the conversion of portions of the $ 400 million principal amount of our 3.875 % convertible senior subordinated notes ( the `` convertible notes `` ) that were issued in 2010 and matured in august 2017. gain on sale of assets replace_table_token_12_th during the year ended december 31 , 2018 and 2016 , we recognized a gain on the sale of a land parcel and on the sale of buildings , respectively . taxes on income from continuing operations replace_table_token_13_th we generate substantial earnings from our international operations . most of the international jurisdictions in which we file tax returns historically have had statutory tax rates that are lower than the united states statutory tax rate ; as a result , our consolidated effective income tax rate for 2017 ( excluding the impact of the tcja ) and earlier years has been substantially below the united states statutory tax rate . the principal international jurisdictions in which the statutory tax rate in 2017 and earlier years is lower than the united states

