3 . ACQUISITIONS The Corporation continually evaluates potential acquisitions that either strategically fit within the Corporations existing portfolio or expand the Corporations portfolio into new product lines or adjacent markets. The Corporation has completed a number of acquisitions that have been accounted for as business combinations and have resulted in the recognition of goodwill in the Corporation's financial statements. This goodwill arises because the purchase prices for these businesses reflect the future earnings and cash flow potential in excess of the earnings and cash flows attributable to the current product and customer set at the time of acquisition. Thus, goodwill inherently includes the know-how of the assembled workforce, the ability of the workforce to further improve the technology and product offerings, and the expected cash flows resulting from these efforts. Goodwill may also include expected synergies resulting from the complementary strategic fit these businesses bring to existing operations. The Corporation allocates the purchase price at the date of acquisition based upon its understanding of the fair value of the acquired assets and assumed liabilities. In the months after closing, as the Corporation obtains additional information about these assets and liabilities, including through tangible and intangible asset appraisals, and as the Corporation learns more about the newly acquired business, it is able to refine the estimates of fair value and more accurately allocate the purchase price. Only items identified as of the acquisition date are considered for subsequent adjustment. The Corporation will make appropriate adjustments to the purchase price allocation prior to completion of the measurement period, as required. No acquisitions were made during the three months ended March 31, 2018. During the three months ended March 31, 2017 , the Corporation acquired two businesses for an aggregate purchase price of $239 million , both of which are described in more detail below. The fol