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Acquisitions
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2020
Business Combinations [Abstract]  
Acquisitions Acquisitions
2020 Acquisitions
Acquisition of Bell Data Centers (the "Bell Acquisition")
On October 1, 2020, the Company completed the acquisition of 12 data center sites across Canada from BCE Bell, with one additional data center in Ottawa Canada acquired on November 2, 2020, for a total combined purchase consideration of approximately C$931.7 million, or $702.0 million at the exchange rates in effect on those dates. The acquisition supports the Company’s ongoing expansion to meet customer demand in Canada.
Acquisition of Packet (the "Packet Acquisition")
On March 2, 2020, the Company acquired all outstanding shares and equity awards of Packet, a leading bare metal automation platform for total purchase consideration of approximately $290.3 million in cash. In connection with the close of the transaction, the Company paid $16.1 million in cash to accelerate the vesting of unvested Packet equity awards for certain Packet employees, which was recorded as stock-based compensation expense. The Company also issued restricted stock awards with an aggregated fair value of $30.2 million and a three-year vesting period, which will be recognized as stock-based compensation costs over the vesting period. The acquisition, combined with Equinix MetalTM, is expected to accelerate the Company's strategy to help enterprises deploy hybrid multicloud architectures on Equinix's data center platform.
Acquisition of data centers from Axtel (the "Axtel Acquisition")
On January 8, 2020, the Company completed the acquisition of three data centers in Mexico from Axtel for a total purchase consideration of approximately $189.0 million, including $175.0 million in cash and $14.0 million the Company paid to the seller for recoverable value-added taxes ("VAT") incurred prior to the acquisition, which related to a corresponding VAT receivable acquired. The acquisition supports the Company’s ongoing expansion to meet customer demand in the Americas region.
Purchase price allocation
These acquisitions constitute businesses under the accounting standard for business combinations and, therefore, were accounted for as business combinations using the acquisition method of accounting. Under the acquisition method of accounting, the total purchase price is allocated to the assets acquired and liabilities assumed measured at fair value on the date of acquisition.
As of December 31, 2020, the Company completed the detailed valuation analysis and the final allocation of purchase price for the Packet Acquisition and the Axtel Acquisition. The Company continues to review the detailed valuation analysis to derive the fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed from the Bell Acquisition, including property, plant and equipment, intangible assets and the related tax impacts; therefore, the purchase price allocation is based on provisional estimates and subject to continuing management analysis.
A summary of the final allocation of total purchase consideration is presented as follows (in thousands):
Bell
Packet (1)
Axtel (2)
ProvisionalFinal
Cash and cash equivalents$— $1,068 $— 
Accounts receivable— 5,098 — 
Other current assets 803 299 14,048 
Property, plant and equipment538,717 27,945 76,407 
Operating lease right-of-use assets14,359 1,519 1,646 
Intangible assets75,631 58,500 22,750 
Goodwill170,548 230,620 78,902 
Deferred tax and other assets722 138 — 
Total assets acquired
800,780 325,187 193,753 
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities(895)(1,275)(238)
Other current liabilities— (860)— 
Operating lease liabilities(13,340)(1,519)(1,586)
Finance lease liabilities(80,026)(27,945)— 
Deferred tax and other liabilities(4,495)(3,290)(2,911)
Net assets acquired
$702,024 $290,298 $189,018 
(1)For the Packet Acquisition, the adjustments made from the provisional amounts reported as of March 31, 2020 primarily resulted in a decrease in intangible assets of $10.1 million and an increase in goodwill of $7.5 million. The changes in fair value of acquired assets and liabilities assumed did not have a significant impact on the Company's results of operations for any reporting periods prior to December 31, 2020.
(2)For the Axtel Acquisition, there were no purchase price allocation adjustments since the provisional amounts reported as of March 31, 2020.
Property, plant and equipment - The fair values of property, plant and equipment acquired from these three acquisitions were estimated by applying the cost approach, with the exception of land, which was estimated by applying the market approach. The key assumptions of the cost approach include replacement cost new, physical deterioration, functional and economic obsolescence, economic useful life, remaining useful life, age and effective age.
Intangible assets - The following table presents certain information on the acquired intangible assets (in thousands):
Intangible AssetsFair ValueEstimated Useful Lives (Years)Weighted-average Estimated Useful Lives (Years)
Bell:
Customer relationships$75,631 15.015.0
Packet:
Trade names1,300 3.03.0
Existing technology5,100 3.03.0
Customer relationships 52,100 10.010.0
Axtel:
Customer relationships 22,750 15.015.0
The fair values of customer relationships acquired from these acquisitions were estimated from applying an income approach, by calculating the present value of estimated future operating cash flows generated from existing customers less costs to realize the revenue. The Company applied a discount rate of 8.0% for Bell, 8.0% for Packet and 13.3% for Axtel, which reflects the nature of the assets as they relate to the risk and uncertainty of the estimated future operating cash flows, as well as the risk of the country within which the acquired business operates.
The fair value of the Packet trade name was estimated using the relief from royalty method under the income approach. The Company applied a relief from royalty rate of 1.0% and a discount rate of 8.0%. The fair value of existing technology was estimated under the cost approach by projecting the cost to recreate a new asset with an equivalent utility of the existing technology. The key assumptions of the cost approach include total cost, time to recreate and functional obsolescence.
Goodwill
Goodwill represents the excess of the purchase price over the fair value of the net tangible and intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed. Goodwill is attributable to the workforce of the acquired business and the projected revenue increase expected to arise from future customers after these acquisitions. Goodwill from these acquisitions is attributable to the Company's Americas region. Goodwill from the Bell Acquisition is expected to be deductible for local tax purposes while goodwill from the Packet and Axtel Acquisitions are not amortizable for local tax purposes.
Revenues and net income and loss from operations
The operating results of these three acquisitions are reported in the Americas region following the dates of acquisitions. During the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company's results of operations include $78.0 million of revenues and $41.0 million of net loss from operations from the Bell, Packet and Axtel Acquisitions. The net loss during the year ended December 31, 2020 was partially attributable to the $16.1 million stock-based compensation expense incurred to accelerate the vesting of certain Packet employees’ unvested Packet equity awards at the close of the Packet Acquisition.
Transaction costs
During the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company incurred total transaction costs of $36.5 million for these three acquisitions.
Pending Acquisition
On August 7, 2020, the Company entered into an agreement to purchase the India operations of GPX Global Systems, Inc. ("GPX India"), representing two data centers in Mumbai, India for approximately $161.0 million in an all-cash transaction (the “GPX India Acquisition”). The GPX India Acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021, subject to customary closing conditions including regulatory approval. Upon the close of the acquisition, the operating results of the acquired business will be reported in the Asia-Pacific region.
2019 Acquisition
On April 18, 2019, the Company completed the acquisition of Switch Datacenters' AMS1 data center business in Amsterdam, Netherlands, for a cash purchase price of approximately €30.6 million or approximately $34.3 million, at the exchange rate in effect on April 18, 2019. As of September 30, 2019, the Company had completed the detailed valuation analysis to derive the fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed and updated the final allocation of purchase price.
2018 Acquisitions
On April 18, 2018, the Company acquired all of the equity interests in Metronode from the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board for a cash purchase price of A$1.034 billion, or approximately $804.6 million at the exchange rate in effect on April 18, 2018. Metronode operated 10 data centers in six metro areas in Australia.     
On April 2, 2018, the Company completed the acquisition of Infomart Dallas, including its operations and tenants, from ASB Real Estate Investments, for total consideration of approximately $804.0 million. Upon acquisition, the Company effectively terminated the leases and settled the related financing obligations and other liabilities related to the leases for approximately $170.3 million and $1.9 million, respectively, and recognized a loss on debt extinguishment of $19.5 million.
The Company incurred transaction costs of approximately $31.1 million during the year ended December 31, 2018 for both acquisitions. The Company's results of operations include $78.7 million of revenues and an
insignificant amount of net income from operations from the combined operations of Metronode and Infomart Dallas during the year ended December 31, 2018.