Note 16 – Related party transactions:

We may be deemed to be controlled by Ms. Simmons and Ms. Connelly. See Note 1. Corporations that may be deemed to be controlled by or affiliated with such individuals sometimes engage in (a) intercorporate transactions such as guarantees, management and expense sharing arrangements, shared fee arrangements, joint ventures, partnerships, loans, options, advances of funds on open account, and sales, leases and exchanges of assets, including securities issued by both related and unrelated parties and (b) common investment and acquisition strategies, business combinations, reorganizations, recapitalizations, securities repurchases, and purchases and sales (and other acquisitions and dispositions) of subsidiaries, divisions or other business units, which transactions have involved both related and unrelated parties and have included transactions which resulted in the acquisition by one related party of a publicly-held noncontrolling interest in another related party. While no transactions of the type described above are planned or proposed with respect to us other than as set forth in these financial statements, we continuously consider, review and evaluate, and understand that Contran and related entities consider, review and evaluate such transactions. Depending upon the business, tax and other objectives then relevant, it is possible that we might be a party to one or more such transactions in the future.

Receivables from and payables to affiliates are summarized in the table below.

	December 31,
	2016		2017
	(In millions)
Current receivables from affiliates:
LPC	$	-	$	8.9
Income taxes receivable from Valhi		.7		15.3
Other		2.8		3.2
	$	3.5	$	27.4

Noncurrent note receivable from Valhi	$	-	$	13.6

Current payable to affiliate - LPC	$	14.7	$	16.2

Noncurrent payable to affiliate -
Income taxes payable to Valhi (See Note 14)	$	-	$	70.1

Amounts payable to LPC are generally for the purchase of TiO₂, while amounts receivable from LPC are generally from the sale of TiO₂ feedstock. See Note 5. Purchases of TiO₂ from LPC were $176.5 million in 2015, $157.5 million in 2016 and $157.5 million in 2017. Sales of feedstock to LPC were $80.6 million in 2015, $68.8 million in 2016 and $79.4 million in 2017.

From time to time, we may have loans and advances outstanding between us and various related parties pursuant to term and demand notes. We generally enter into these loans and advances for cash management purposes. When we loan funds to related parties, we are generally able to earn a higher rate of return on the loan than we would earn if we invested the funds in other instruments, and when we borrow from related parties, we are generally able to pay a lower rate of interest than we would pay if we had incurred third-party indebtedness. While certain of these loans to affiliates may be of a lesser credit quality than cash equivalent instruments otherwise available to us, we believe we have considered the credit risks in the terms of the applicable loans.

In this regard, in November 2010, we entered into an unsecured revolving demand promissory note with Valhi whereby, as amended, we agreed to loan Valhi up to $60 million. Our loan to Valhi bears interest at prime plus 1.00%, payable quarterly, with all principal due on demand, but in any event no earlier than December 31, 2019. The amount of our outstanding loans to Valhi at any time is at our discretion. At December 31, 2016, we had no outstanding loans to Valhi, and at December 31, 2017 we had $13.6 million of outstanding loans to Valhi under this promissory note.

Interest income (including unused commitment fees) on our loan to Valhi was $.5 million in 2015 and $.4 million in each of 2016 and 2017.

Under the terms of various intercorporate services agreements (ISAs) entered into between us and various related parties, including Contran, employees of one company will provide certain management, tax planning, financial and administrative services to the other company on a fee basis. Such charges are based upon estimates of the time devoted by the employees of the provider of the services to the affairs of the recipient, and the compensation and associated expenses of such persons. Because of the large number of companies affiliated with Contran, we believe we benefit from cost savings and economies of scale gained by not having certain management, financial and administrative staffs duplicated at each entity, thus allowing certain individuals to provide services to multiple companies but only be compensated by one entity. The net ISA fee charged to us is included in selling, general and administrative expense and corporate expense and was $13.4 million in 2015, $15.2 million in 2016 and $16.3 million in 2017.

Contran and certain of its subsidiaries and affiliates, including us, purchase certain of their insurance policies as a group, with the costs of the jointly-owned policies being apportioned among the participating companies. Tall Pines Insurance Company and EWI RE, Inc., each subsidiaries of Valhi, provide for or broker certain insurance policies for Contran and certain of its subsidiaries and affiliates, including ourselves. Tall Pines purchases reinsurance from third-party insurance carriers with an A.M. Best Company rating of generally at least A-(excellent) for substantially all of the risks it underwrites. Consistent with insurance industry practices, Tall Pines and EWI receive commissions from insurance and reinsurance underwriters and/or assess fees for the policies that they provide or broker. The aggregate premiums paid to Tall Pines and EWI by us and our joint venture were $10.3 million in 2015, $9.2 million in 2016 and $9.3 million in 2017. These amounts principally represent payments for insurance premiums, which include premiums or fees paid to Tall Pines or fees paid to EWI. These amounts also include payments to insurers or reinsurers through EWI for the reimbursement of claims within our applicable deductible or retention ranges that such insurers or reinsurers paid to third parties on our behalf, as well as amounts for claims and risk management services and various other third-party fees and expenses incurred by the program. We expect these relationships with Tall Pines and EWI will continue in 2018.

With respect to certain of such jointly-owned policies, it is possible that unusually large losses incurred by one or more insureds during a given policy period could leave the other participating companies without adequate coverage under that policy for the balance of the policy period. As a result, and in the event that the available coverage under a particular policy would become exhausted by one or more claims, Contran and certain of its subsidiaries and affiliates, including us, have entered into a loss sharing agreement under which any uninsured loss arising because the available coverage had been exhausted by one or more claims will be shared ratably amongst those entities that had submitted claims under the relevant policy. We believe the benefits, in the form of reduced premiums and broader coverage associated with the group coverage for such policies, justifies the risk associated with the potential for any uninsured loss.

Contran and certain of its subsidiaries, including us, participate in a combined information technology data recovery program that Contran provides from a data recovery center that it established. Pursuant to the program, Contran and certain of its subsidiaries, including us, as a group share information technology data recovery services. The program apportions its costs among the participating companies. We paid Contran $.1 million in each of 2015, 2016 and 2017 for such services. We expect that this relationship with Contran will continue in 2018.