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Balance Sheet Components
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2021
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Balance Sheet Components Balance Sheet Components
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments
Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments consisted of the following as of December 31 (in thousands):
20212020
Cash and cash equivalents:
Cash$950,677 $993,798 
Cash equivalents:
Money market funds585,681 611,071 
Total cash and cash equivalents1,536,358 1,604,869 
Short-term investments:
Certificates of deposit— 4,373 
Publicly traded equity securities— 159 
Total short-term investments— 4,532 
Total cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments
$1,536,358 $1,609,401 

As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, cash and cash equivalents included investments which were readily convertible to cash and had original maturity dates of 90 days or less.
Accounts Receivable
Trade accounts receivable are recorded at the invoiced amount and generally do not bear interest. Accounts receivable, net, consisted of the following as of December 31 (in thousands):
20212020
Accounts receivable$693,444 $687,415 
Allowance for credit losses(11,635)(10,677)
Accounts receivable, net$681,809 $676,738 
The following table summarizes the activity of our allowance for credit losses (in thousands):
Balance as of December 31, 2018$15,950 
Provision for doubtful accounts8,459 
Net write-offs(11,341)
Impact of foreign currency exchange(42)
Balance as of December 31, 201913,026 
Adjustments due to adoption of ASU 2016-13900 
Provision for doubtful accounts5,069 
Net write-offs(10,050)
Impact of foreign currency exchange1,732 
Balance as of December 31, 202010,677 
Provision for doubtful accounts10,016 
Net write-offs(8,295)
Impact of foreign currency exchange(763)
Balance as of December 31, 2021$11,635 
Other Current Assets
Other current assets consisted of the following as of December 31 (in thousands):
20212020
Prepaid expenses$65,224 $61,424 
Taxes receivable128,123 125,614 
Restricted cash, current12,188 11,135 
Other receivables59,224 44,333 
Derivative instruments117,432 8,906 
Contract assets, current65,392 13,534 
Other current assets (1)
15,156 58,070 
Total other current assets$462,739 $323,016 
(1)Other current assets included $5.3 million and $44.2 million of the current portion of the fair value of the contingent consideration from the sale of xScale™ data center facilities to the EMEA 1 Joint Venture as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. See Note 5 for further discussion.
Property, Plant and Equipment, Net
Property, plant and equipment, net consisted of the following as of December 31 (in thousands):
20212020
Core systems$10,808,417 $9,659,908 
Buildings7,381,644 6,557,121 
Leasehold improvements2,022,617 1,946,644 
Construction in progress967,562 1,363,917 
Personal property (1)
1,551,642 1,207,669 
Land970,982 944,094 
23,702,864 21,679,353 
Less accumulated depreciation(8,257,089)(7,176,269)
Property, plant and equipment, net$15,445,775 $14,503,084 
(1)Personal property included $1.2 billion and $885.5 million of capitalized internal-use software as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.
Goodwill and Other Intangibles
The following table presents goodwill and other intangible assets, net, for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 (in thousands):
20212020
Goodwill:
Americas$2,210,009 $2,212,782 
EMEA2,472,586 2,611,166 
Asia-Pacific689,476 648,605 
$5,372,071 $5,472,553 
Intangible assets, net:
Intangible assets - customer relationships$2,841,372 $2,891,060 
Intangible assets - trade names11,471 11,512 
Intangible assets - in-place leases32,760 33,770 
Intangible assets - licenses9,697 9,697 
Intangible assets - at-the-money lease contracts (1)
60,455 64,905 
Intangible assets - other12,546 12,802 
2,968,301 3,023,746 
Accumulated amortization - customer relationships(987,462)(818,370)
Accumulated amortization - trade names(3,207)(2,337)
Accumulated amortization - in-place leases(22,847)(20,037)
Accumulated amortization - licenses(5,821)(6,600)
Accumulated amortization - other (2)
(13,697)(5,457)
(1,033,034)(852,801)
Total intangible assets, net$1,935,267 $2,170,945 
(1) In December 2020, we acquired an at-the-money lease contract intangible asset through an asset acquisition in Amsterdam. This intangible asset represents premiums paid to acquire a land lease at market terms. The lease has a remaining lease term of 12 years with available renewal options in 50-year increments. The intangible asset has an estimated amortization period of 12 years. The total purchase consideration for this asset acquisition was $49.4 million and we recorded
$16.1 million of deferred tax liability in connection with this purchase. The transaction was accounted for as an asset acquisition since substantially all of the fair value of the acquired assets is for the identified at-the-money lease intangible asset.
(2) Accumulated amortization - other includes an insignificant amount of amortization of at-the-money lease contracts.
Changes in the carrying amount of goodwill by geographic regions are as follows (in thousands):
AmericasEMEAAsia-PacificTotal
Balance as of December 31, 2019$1,741,689 $2,426,306 $613,863 $4,781,858 
Purchase of Packet230,620 — — 230,620 
Purchase of Bell170,548 — — 170,548 
Purchase of Axtel78,902 — — 78,902 
Sale of xScale data center facilities— — (7,306)(7,306)
Impact of foreign currency exchange(8,977)184,860 42,048 217,931 
Balance as of December 31, 20202,212,782 2,611,166 648,605 5,472,553 
Purchase of GPX— — 77,162 77,162 
Impact of foreign currency exchange(2,773)(138,580)(36,291)(177,644)
Balance as of December 31, 2021$2,210,009 $2,472,586 $689,476 $5,372,071 
Changes in the net book value of intangible assets by geographic regions are as follows (in thousands):
AmericasEMEAAsia-PacificTotal
Balance as of December 31, 2018$1,578,971 $543,860 $210,465 $2,333,296 
ASC 842 adoption adjustment(108)(20,692)(2,405)(23,205)
Switch AMS1 data center acquisition— 4,889 — 4,889 
Asset sales - NY12 data center(8,412)— — (8,412)
Other— 1,096 472 1,568 
Amortization of intangibles(125,390)(54,432)(16,456)(196,278)
Impact of foreign currency exchange(1,769)(8,157)457 (9,469)
Balance as of December 31, 20191,443,292 466,564 192,533 2,102,389 
Axtel acquisition22,750 — — 22,750 
Packet acquisition58,500 — — 58,500 
Bell acquisition75,631 — — 75,631 
Other asset acquisition(1)
— 64,905 — 64,905 
Amortization of intangibles(133,608)(49,417)(16,022)(199,047)
Impact of foreign currency exchange(3,476)35,975 13,318 45,817 
Balance as of December 31, 20201,463,089 518,027 189,829 2,170,945 
GPX acquisition— — 15,472 15,472 
Amortization of intangibles(133,289)(55,807)(16,388)(205,484)
Impact of foreign currency exchange(2,047)(30,278)(13,341)(45,666)
Balance as of December 31, 2021$1,327,753 $431,942 $175,572 $1,935,267 
(1) For further discussion, refer to footnote 1 of the table on the previous page.
Goodwill and intangible assets which are denominated in currencies other than the U.S. Dollar are subject to foreign currency fluctuations. Our foreign currency translation gains and losses, including goodwill and intangibles, are a component of other comprehensive income and loss.
Estimated future amortization expense related to these intangibles is as follows (in thousands):
Years ending:
2022$196,744 
2023195,030 
2024193,722 
2025191,158 
2026190,802 
Thereafter967,811 
Total$1,935,267 
Other Assets
Other assets consisted of the following as of December 31 (in thousands):
20212020
Deferred tax assets, net$59,816 $66,424 
Prepaid expenses (1)
87,758 82,443 
Debt issuance costs, net2,130 4,261 
Deposits70,548 69,043 
Restricted cash908 9,691 
Derivative instruments59,917 2,793 
Contract assets, non-current55,486 54,050 
Contract costs325,510 267,978 
Equity method investments245,049 163,071 
Other assets (2)
18,944 56,293 
Total other assets$926,066 $776,047 
(1)Prepaid expenses included $46.0 million and $21.1 million of capitalized CCA implementation costs, net as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.
(2)In connection with the Metronode Acquisition in 2018, we had indemnification assets of $42.8 million as of December 31, 2020, which represented the seller's obligation under the purchase agreement to reimburse pre-acquisition tax liabilities settled after the acquisition. The amount was insignificant as of December 31, 2021.
Accounts Payable and Accrued Expenses
Accounts payable and accrued expenses consisted of the following as of December 31 (in thousands):
20212020
Accounts payable$84,084 $77,705 
Accrued compensation and benefits364,783 317,117 
Accrued interest81,893 79,437 
Accrued taxes (1)
117,061 153,804 
Accrued utilities and security94,251 76,910 
Accrued other137,072 139,889 
Total accounts payable and accrued expenses$879,144 $844,862 
(1)Accrued taxes included income taxes payable of $51.3 million and $59.8 million as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.
Other Current Liabilities
Other current liabilities consisted of the following as of December 31 (in thousands):
20212020
Deferred revenue, current$109,736 $101,258 
Customer deposits16,380 17,115 
Derivative instruments13,373 188,726 
Dividends payable, current12,027 10,873 
Asset retirement obligations8,756 3,993 
Other current liabilities54,247 32,403 
Total other current liabilities$214,519 $354,368 
Other Liabilities
Other liabilities consisted of the following as of December 31 (in thousands):
20212020
Asset retirement obligations$108,800 $109,776 
Deferred tax liabilities, net340,287 290,366 
Deferred revenue, non-current87,495 71,242 
Accrued taxes124,032 178,371 
Dividends payable, non-current9,750 7,947 
Customer deposits1,534 1,088 
Derivative instruments20,899 211,733 
Other liabilities70,614 78,476 
Total other liabilities$763,411 $948,999 
The following table summarizes the activities of our asset retirement obligation ("ARO") (in thousands):
Asset retirement obligations as of December 31, 2018$96,663 
Additions6,980 
Adjustments (1)
(7,969)
Accretion expense6,290 
Impact of foreign currency exchange451 
Asset retirement obligations as of December 31, 2019102,415 
Additions5,909 
Adjustments (1)
(4,241)
Accretion expense6,331 
Impact of foreign currency exchange3,355 
Asset retirement obligations as of December 31, 2020113,769 
Additions 7,483 
Adjustments (1)
(6,591)
Accretion expense6,518 
Impact of foreign currency exchange(3,623)
Asset retirement obligations as of December 31, 2021$117,556 
(1)The ARO adjustments are primarily due to lease amendments and acquisition of real estate assets, as well as other adjustments.