the principal factors that affect the company 's franchising results are : the number and relative mix of franchised hotel rooms in the various hotel lodging price categories ; growth in the number of hotel rooms under franchise ; occupancy and room rates achieved by the hotels under franchise ; the effective royalty rate achieved ; the level of franchise sales and relicensing activity ; and our ability to manage costs . the number of rooms at franchised properties and occupancy and room rates at those properties significantly affect the company 's results because our fees are based upon room revenues or the number of rooms at franchised hotels . the key industry standard for measuring hotel-operating performance is revpar , which is calculated by multiplying the percentage of occupied rooms by the average daily room rate realized . our variable overhead costs associated with franchise system growth of our established brands have historically been less than incremental royalty fees generated from new franchises . accordingly , continued growth of our franchise business should enable us to realize benefits from the operating leverage in place and improve operating results . we are required by our franchise agreements to use the marketing and reservation system fees we collect for system-wide marketing and reservation activities . these expenditures , which include advertising costs and costs to maintain our central reservations and property management systems , help to enhance awareness and increase consumer preference for our brands and deliver guests to our franchisees . greater awareness and preference promotes long-term growth in business delivery to our franchisees and increases the desirability of our brands to hotel owners and developers , which ultimately increases franchise fees earned by the company . our company articulates its mission as a commitment to our franchisees ' profitability by providing our franchisees with hotel franchises that strive to generate the highest return on investment of any hotel franchise . we have developed an operating system dedicated to our franchisees ' success that focuses on delivering guests to our franchised hotels and reducing costs for our hotel owners . we believe that executing our strategic priorities creates value for our shareholders . our company focuses on two key goals : profitable growth . our success is dependent on improving the performance of our hotels , increasing our system size by selling additional hotel franchises , effective royalty rate improvement and maintaining a disciplined cost structure . we attempt to improve our franchisees ' revenues and overall profitability by providing a variety of products and services designed to increase business delivery to and or reduce operating and development costs for our franchisees . these products and services include national marketing campaigns , maintaining a guest loyalty program , a central reservation system , property and yield management programs and systems , revenue management services , quality assurance standards and qualified vendor relationships . we believe that healthy brands , which deliver a compelling return on investment for franchisees , will enable us to sell additional hotel franchises and raise royalty rates . we have established multiple brands that meet the needs of many types of guests , and can be developed at various price points and applied to both new and existing hotels . this ensures that we have brands suitable for creating growth in a variety of market conditions . improving the performance of the hotels under franchise , growing the system through additional franchise sales and improving franchise agreement pricing while maintaining a disciplined cost structure are the keys to profitable growth . maximizing financial returns and creating value for shareholders . our capital allocation decisions , including capital structure and uses of capital , are intended to maximize our return on invested capital and create value for our shareholders . we believe our strong and predictable cash flows create a strong financial position that provides us a competitive advantage . currently , our business does not require significant capital to operate and grow . therefore , we can maintain a capital structure that generates high financial returns and use our excess cash flow to increase returns to our shareholders primarily through share repurchases , dividends or investing in growth opportunities . 40 historically , we have returned value to our shareholders through share repurchases and dividends . in 1998 , we instituted a share repurchase program which has generated substantial value for our shareholders . since the program 's inception through december 31 , 2016 , we have repurchased 48.7 million shares ( including 33.0 million prior to the two-for-one stock split effected in october 2005 ) of common stock at a total cost of $ 1.3 billion . considering the effect of the two-for-one stock split , the company has repurchased 81.7 million shares at an average price of $ 15.38 per share . the company has purchased 0.6 million shares of common stock under the share repurchase program for the year ended december 31 , 2016. in december 2016 , the company 's board of directors approved increasing the number of shares authorized for repurchase by 3.0 million shares . as a result at december 31 , 2016 , we had approximately 4.0 million shares remaining under the current share repurchase authorization . we currently believe that our cash flows from operations will support our ability to complete the current repurchase authorization . upon completion of the current authorization , our board of directors will evaluate the advisability of additional share repurchases . the company commenced paying quarterly dividends in 2004 and in 2012 the company elected to pay a special cash dividend totaling approximately $ 600 million . the company currently maintains the payment of a quarterly dividend on its common shares outstanding , however the declaration of future dividends are subject to the discretion of the board of directors . story_separator_special_tag the number of conversion franchised hotels in the company 's domestic pipeline increased by 20 units or 10 % from december 31 , 2015 to 229 hotels at december 31 , 2016 primarily due to the timing of hotel openings and the timing of signing new conversion franchise agreements . conversion hotels typically open within three to four months after the execution of the franchise agreement . the company had an additional 54 franchised hotels with 6,151 rooms under construction , awaiting conversion or approved for development in its international system as of december 31 , 2016 compared to 114 hotels and 11,689 rooms at december 31 , 2015 . while the company 's hotel pipeline provides a strong platform for growth , a hotel in the pipeline does not always result in an open and operating hotel due to various factors . 46 a summary of the domestic franchised hotels under construction , awaiting conversion or approved for development at december 31 , 2016 and 2015 by brand is as follows : replace_table_token_20_th procurement services : revenues increased $ 4.2 million or 15 % from $ 27.1 million for the year ended december 31 , 2015 to $ 31.2 million for the year ended december 31 , 2016 . the increase in procurement services revenue primarily reflects the implementation of new brand programs as well as an increased volume of business transacted with existing and new qualified vendors and strategic alliance partners . other income : revenue increased $ 5.3 million from the year ended december 31 , 2015 to $ 23.2 million for the year ended december 31 , 2016 . the increase in other income is primarily due to an increase of $ 0.7 million related to support and consulting fees earned by the company 's skytouch division and a $ 3.7 million increase in revenues related to the company 's vacation rental division . selling , general and administrative expenses : the cost to operate the franchising business is reflected in sg & a on the consolidated statements of income . sg & a expenses were $ 148.7 million for 2016 , an increase of $ 14.5 million from the 2015 total of $ 134.3 million . sg & a expenses for the year end december 31 , 2016 and 2015 include approximately $ 28.1 million and $ 24.1 million , respectively related to the company 's skytouch division and vacation rental divisions , and expenses related to the operations of an office building leased to third parties . excluding the sg & a expenses for non-hotel franchising activities , sg & a for the year end december 31 , 2016 increased $ 10.5 million or 9.5 % from $ 110.1 million in the prior year to $ 120.6 million in the current year primarily due to a $ 4.5 million increase in employee termination benefits , a $ 2.3 million increase in expenses related to the fluctuation of the fair market value in the company 's non-qualified deferred compensation plans , as well as increased costs related to franchise support . sg & a expenses for the company 's non-hotel franchising activities increased $ 4 million in 2016 , primarily due to the august 2015 acquisition of a company that provides software as a service solutions for vacation rental management companies , as well as increased spending on other vacation rental initiatives . marketing and reservation system : the company 's franchise agreements require the payment of franchise fees , which include marketing and reservation system fees . the fees , which are primarily based on a percentage of the franchisees ' gross room revenues , are used exclusively by the company for expenses associated with providing franchise services such as central reservation systems , national marketing and media advertising . the company is contractually obligated to expend the marketing and reservation system fees it collects from franchisees in accordance with the franchise agreements ; as such , no net income or loss to the company is generated . cumulative marketing and reservation fees not expended are deferred and recorded as a liability in the company 's financial statements and carried over to the next year and expended in accordance with the franchise agreements . conversely , cumulative marketing and reservation expenditures incurred in excess of fees billed for marketing and reservation activities are deferred and recorded as an asset in the company 's financial statements and recovered in future periods . total marketing and reservation system revenues increased 8 % or $ 37.0 million from $ 488.8 million for the year ended december 31 , 2015 to $ 525.7 million for the year ended december 31 , 2016 . marketing and reservation system revenues 47 reflect recognition of $ 30.7 million of previously deferred revenues in 2016 compared to $ 13.6 million in the prior year . the increase in the recognition of these revenues was primarily due to a change in the company 's expiration policy for the choice privileges membership program . in addition , revenues increased due to improved system fees resulting from revpar increases and increasing revenues from the choice privileges loyalty program resulting from the growth in program membership and increases in the average daily rate . at december 31 , 2016 , cumulative marketing and reservation system costs exceeded cumulative marketing and reservation system revenues earned by $ 18.1 million compared to cumulative marketing and reservation system fees billed exceeding expenses by $ 30.7 million as of december 31 , 2015. the deficit and excess are reflected as an other long-term asset and liability , respectively , in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets . gain on sale of assets , net : the company purchased real estate as part of a program to incent franchise development in strategic markets or to pursue hotel development through joint ventures . for the year ended december 31 , 2016 , the company sold properties to franchise developers for a net gain

cash utilized in investing activities totaled $ 98.5 million , $ 99.8 million and $ 17.6 million for the years ended december 31 , 2016 , 2015 and 2014 , respectively . the decrease in cash utilized for investing activities from 2015 to 2016 primarily reflects the following items : during the years ended december 31 , 2016 , 2015 and 2014 , capital expenditures in property and equipment totaled $ 25.2 million , $ 27.8 million and $ 20.9 million , respectively . the decrease in capital expenditures primarily reflects decreased spending on upgrades of our central reservation system , yield management system , and purchases of technology hardware . during the years ended december 31 , 2016 , 2015 and 2014 , capital expenditures in intangible assets totaled $ 2.6 million , $ 0.7 million and $ 0.6 million , respectively . the increase in capital expenditures in intangible assets in 2016 primarily reflects the capitalization of qualified software as a service ( `` saas '' ) contracts as a result of adopting accounting standards update 2015-05 , intangibles - goodwill and other - internal use software , which the company adopted on january 1 , 2016. during the year ended december 31 , 2016 , the company completed four acquisitions of real estate as part of its program to incent franchise development in strategic markets for certain brands . the aggregate purchase price for these acquisitions was $ 29.0 million consisting of $ 28.7 million cash with an additional $ 0.3 million of current liabilities assumed . in addition , the company incurred $ 0.5 million in acquisition related costs , which were expensed in the period . during the year ended december 31 , 2015 , the company completed two acquisition of real estate as part of its program to incent franchise development in strategic markets for certain brands . the aggregate purchase price for these acquisitions was $ 9.2 million .


 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 utilized in investing activities totaled $ 98.5 million , $ 99.8 million and $ 17.6 million for the years ended december 31 , 2016 , 2015 and 2014 , respectively . the decrease in cash utilized for investing activities from 2015 to 2016 primarily reflects the following items : during the years ended december 31 , 2016 , 2015 and 2014 , capital expenditures in property and equipment totaled $ 25.2 million , $ 27.8 million and $ 20.9 million , respectively . the decrease in capital expenditures primarily reflects decreased spending on upgrades of our central reservation system , yield management system , and purchases of technology hardware . during the years ended december 31 , 2016 , 2015 and 2014 , capital expenditures in intangible assets totaled $ 2.6 million , $ 0.7 million and $ 0.6 million , respectively . the increase in capital expenditures in intangible assets in 2016 primarily reflects the capitalization of qualified software as a service ( `` saas '' ) contracts as a result of adopting accounting standards update 2015-05 , intangibles - goodwill and other - internal use software , which the company adopted on january 1 , 2016. during the year ended december 31 , 2016 , the company completed four acquisitions of real estate as part of its program to incent franchise development in strategic markets for certain brands . the aggregate purchase price for these acquisitions was $ 29.0 million consisting of $ 28.7 million cash with an additional $ 0.3 million of current liabilities assumed . in addition , the company incurred $ 0.5 million in acquisition related costs , which were expensed in the period . during the year ended december 31 , 2015 , the company completed two acquisition of real estate as part of its program to incent franchise development in strategic markets for certain brands . the aggregate purchase price for these acquisitions was $ 9.2 million .
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 Suspicious Activity Report : the principal factors that affect the company 's franchising results are : the number and relative mix of franchised hotel rooms in the various hotel lodging price categories ; growth in the number of hotel rooms under franchise ; occupancy and room rates achieved by the hotels under franchise ; the effective royalty rate achieved ; the level of franchise sales and relicensing activity ; and our ability to manage costs . the number of rooms at franchised properties and occupancy and room rates at those properties significantly affect the company 's results because our fees are based upon room revenues or the number of rooms at franchised hotels . the key industry standard for measuring hotel-operating performance is revpar , which is calculated by multiplying the percentage of occupied rooms by the average daily room rate realized . our variable overhead costs associated with franchise system growth of our established brands have historically been less than incremental royalty fees generated from new franchises . accordingly , continued growth of our franchise business should enable us to realize benefits from the operating leverage in place and improve operating results . we are required by our franchise agreements to use the marketing and reservation system fees we collect for system-wide marketing and reservation activities . these expenditures , which include advertising costs and costs to maintain our central reservations and property management systems , help to enhance awareness and increase consumer preference for our brands and deliver guests to our franchisees . greater awareness and preference promotes long-term growth in business delivery to our franchisees and increases the desirability of our brands to hotel owners and developers , which ultimately increases franchise fees earned by the company . our company articulates its mission as a commitment to our franchisees ' profitability by providing our franchisees with hotel franchises that strive to generate the highest return on investment of any hotel franchise . we have developed an operating system dedicated to our franchisees ' success that focuses on delivering guests to our franchised hotels and reducing costs for our hotel owners . we believe that executing our strategic priorities creates value for our shareholders . our company focuses on two key goals : profitable growth . our success is dependent on improving the performance of our hotels , increasing our system size by selling additional hotel franchises , effective royalty rate improvement and maintaining a disciplined cost structure . we attempt to improve our franchisees ' revenues and overall profitability by providing a variety of products and services designed to increase business delivery to and or reduce operating and development costs for our franchisees . these products and services include national marketing campaigns , maintaining a guest loyalty program , a central reservation system , property and yield management programs and systems , revenue management services , quality assurance standards and qualified vendor relationships . we believe that healthy brands , which deliver a compelling return on investment for franchisees , will enable us to sell additional hotel franchises and raise royalty rates . we have established multiple brands that meet the needs of many types of guests , and can be developed at various price points and applied to both new and existing hotels . this ensures that we have brands suitable for creating growth in a variety of market conditions . improving the performance of the hotels under franchise , growing the system through additional franchise sales and improving franchise agreement pricing while maintaining a disciplined cost structure are the keys to profitable growth . maximizing financial returns and creating value for shareholders . our capital allocation decisions , including capital structure and uses of capital , are intended to maximize our return on invested capital and create value for our shareholders . we believe our strong and predictable cash flows create a strong financial position that provides us a competitive advantage . currently , our business does not require significant capital to operate and grow . therefore , we can maintain a capital structure that generates high financial returns and use our excess cash flow to increase returns to our shareholders primarily through share repurchases , dividends or investing in growth opportunities . 40 historically , we have returned value to our shareholders through share repurchases and dividends . in 1998 , we instituted a share repurchase program which has generated substantial value for our shareholders . since the program 's inception through december 31 , 2016 , we have repurchased 48.7 million shares ( including 33.0 million prior to the two-for-one stock split effected in october 2005 ) of common stock at a total cost of $ 1.3 billion . considering the effect of the two-for-one stock split , the company has repurchased 81.7 million shares at an average price of $ 15.38 per share . the company has purchased 0.6 million shares of common stock under the share repurchase program for the year ended december 31 , 2016. in december 2016 , the company 's board of directors approved increasing the number of shares authorized for repurchase by 3.0 million shares . as a result at december 31 , 2016 , we had approximately 4.0 million shares remaining under the current share repurchase authorization . we currently believe that our cash flows from operations will support our ability to complete the current repurchase authorization . upon completion of the current authorization , our board of directors will evaluate the advisability of additional share repurchases . the company commenced paying quarterly dividends in 2004 and in 2012 the company elected to pay a special cash dividend totaling approximately $ 600 million . the company currently maintains the payment of a quarterly dividend on its common shares outstanding , however the declaration of future dividends are subject to the discretion of the board of directors . story_separator_special_tag the number of conversion franchised hotels in the company 's domestic pipeline increased by 20 units or 10 % from december 31 , 2015 to 229 hotels at december 31 , 2016 primarily due to the timing of hotel openings and the timing of signing new conversion franchise agreements . conversion hotels typically open within three to four months after the execution of the franchise agreement . the company had an additional 54 franchised hotels with 6,151 rooms under construction , awaiting conversion or approved for development in its international system as of december 31 , 2016 compared to 114 hotels and 11,689 rooms at december 31 , 2015 . while the company 's hotel pipeline provides a strong platform for growth , a hotel in the pipeline does not always result in an open and operating hotel due to various factors . 46 a summary of the domestic franchised hotels under construction , awaiting conversion or approved for development at december 31 , 2016 and 2015 by brand is as follows : replace_table_token_20_th procurement services : revenues increased $ 4.2 million or 15 % from $ 27.1 million for the year ended december 31 , 2015 to $ 31.2 million for the year ended december 31 , 2016 . the increase in procurement services revenue primarily reflects the implementation of new brand programs as well as an increased volume of business transacted with existing and new qualified vendors and strategic alliance partners . other income : revenue increased $ 5.3 million from the year ended december 31 , 2015 to $ 23.2 million for the year ended december 31 , 2016 . the increase in other income is primarily due to an increase of $ 0.7 million related to support and consulting fees earned by the company 's skytouch division and a $ 3.7 million increase in revenues related to the company 's vacation rental division . selling , general and administrative expenses : the cost to operate the franchising business is reflected in sg & a on the consolidated statements of income . sg & a expenses were $ 148.7 million for 2016 , an increase of $ 14.5 million from the 2015 total of $ 134.3 million . sg & a expenses for the year end december 31 , 2016 and 2015 include approximately $ 28.1 million and $ 24.1 million , respectively related to the company 's skytouch division and vacation rental divisions , and expenses related to the operations of an office building leased to third parties . excluding the sg & a expenses for non-hotel franchising activities , sg & a for the year end december 31 , 2016 increased $ 10.5 million or 9.5 % from $ 110.1 million in the prior year to $ 120.6 million in the current year primarily due to a $ 4.5 million increase in employee termination benefits , a $ 2.3 million increase in expenses related to the fluctuation of the fair market value in the company 's non-qualified deferred compensation plans , as well as increased costs related to franchise support . sg & a expenses for the company 's non-hotel franchising activities increased $ 4 million in 2016 , primarily due to the august 2015 acquisition of a company that provides software as a service solutions for vacation rental management companies , as well as increased spending on other vacation rental initiatives . marketing and reservation system : the company 's franchise agreements require the payment of franchise fees , which include marketing and reservation system fees . the fees , which are primarily based on a percentage of the franchisees ' gross room revenues , are used exclusively by the company for expenses associated with providing franchise services such as central reservation systems , national marketing and media advertising . the company is contractually obligated to expend the marketing and reservation system fees it collects from franchisees in accordance with the franchise agreements ; as such , no net income or loss to the company is generated . cumulative marketing and reservation fees not expended are deferred and recorded as a liability in the company 's financial statements and carried over to the next year and expended in accordance with the franchise agreements . conversely , cumulative marketing and reservation expenditures incurred in excess of fees billed for marketing and reservation activities are deferred and recorded as an asset in the company 's financial statements and recovered in future periods . total marketing and reservation system revenues increased 8 % or $ 37.0 million from $ 488.8 million for the year ended december 31 , 2015 to $ 525.7 million for the year ended december 31 , 2016 . marketing and reservation system revenues 47 reflect recognition of $ 30.7 million of previously deferred revenues in 2016 compared to $ 13.6 million in the prior year . the increase in the recognition of these revenues was primarily due to a change in the company 's expiration policy for the choice privileges membership program . in addition , revenues increased due to improved system fees resulting from revpar increases and increasing revenues from the choice privileges loyalty program resulting from the growth in program membership and increases in the average daily rate . at december 31 , 2016 , cumulative marketing and reservation system costs exceeded cumulative marketing and reservation system revenues earned by $ 18.1 million compared to cumulative marketing and reservation system fees billed exceeding expenses by $ 30.7 million as of december 31 , 2015. the deficit and excess are reflected as an other long-term asset and liability , respectively , in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets . gain on sale of assets , net : the company purchased real estate as part of a program to incent franchise development in strategic markets or to pursue hotel development through joint ventures . for the year ended december 31 , 2016 , the company sold properties to franchise developers for a net gain

