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Balance Sheet Components
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2020
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):
20202019
Cash and cash equivalents:
Cash$993,798 $983,030 
Cash equivalents:
Money market funds611,071 886,547 
Total cash and cash equivalents1,604,869 1,869,577 
Short-term investments:
Certificates of deposit4,373 7,583 
Publicly traded equity securities159 2,779 
Total short-term investments4,532 10,362 
Total cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments
$1,609,401 $1,879,939 

As of December 31, 2020 and 2019, cash and cash equivalents included investments which were readily convertible to cash and had original maturity dates of 90 days or less. The maturities of certificates of deposit classified as short-term investments were one year or less as of December 31, 2020 and 2019. The Company does not have any certificates of deposits with maturities greater than one year as of December 31, 2020 and 2019.
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):
20202019
Accounts receivable$687,415 $702,160 
Allowance for credit losses(10,677)(13,026)
Accounts receivable, net$676,738 $689,134 
The following table summarizes the activity of the Company's allowance for credit losses (in thousands):
Balance as of December 31, 2017$18,228 
Provision for doubtful accounts7,236 
Net write-offs(8,396)
Impact of foreign currency exchange(1,118)
Balance as of December 31, 201815,950 
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 credit losses5,069 
Net write-offs(10,050)
Impact of foreign currency exchange1,732 
Balance as of December 31, 2020$10,677 
Other Current Assets
Other current assets consisted of the following as of December 31 (in thousands):
20202019
Prepaid expenses$61,424 $55,954 
Taxes receivable125,614 122,823 
Restricted cash, current11,135 7,090 
Other receivables44,333 36,350 
Derivative instruments8,906 25,426 
Contract assets, current13,534 10,033 
Other current assets (1)
58,070 45,867 
Total other current assets$323,016 $303,543 
(1)Other current assets included $44.2 million and $34.3 million of the current portion of the fair value of the contingent consideration from the sale of xScale™ data center facilities to the EMEA Joint Venture as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, 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):
20202019
Core systems$9,659,908 $8,131,835 
Buildings6,557,121 5,398,525 
Leasehold improvements1,946,644 1,764,058 
Construction in progress1,363,917 1,002,104 
Personal property (1)
1,207,669 1,009,701 
Land944,094 781,024 
21,679,353 18,087,247 
Less accumulated depreciation(7,176,269)(5,934,650)
Property, plant and equipment, net$14,503,084 $12,152,597 
(1)Personal property included $885.5 million and $687.4 million of capitalized internal-use software as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Goodwill and Other Intangibles
The following table presents goodwill and other intangible assets, net, for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 (in thousands):
20202019
Goodwill:
Americas$2,212,782 $1,741,689 
EMEA2,611,166 2,426,306 
Asia-Pacific648,605 613,863 
$5,472,553 $4,781,858 
Intangible assets, net:
Intangible assets - customer relationships$2,891,060 $2,712,701 
Intangible assets - trade names11,512 46,601 
Intangible assets - in-place leases33,770 33,295 
Intangible assets - licenses9,697 9,697 
Intangible assets - at-the-money lease contracts (1)
64,905 — 
Intangible assets - other12,802 6,402 
3,023,746 2,808,696 
Accumulated amortization - customer relationships(818,370)(646,632)
Accumulated amortization - trade names(2,337)(37,885)
Accumulated amortization - in-place leases(20,037)(14,329)
Accumulated amortization - licenses(6,600)(4,529)
Accumulated amortization - other(5,457)(2,932)
(852,801)(706,307)
Total intangible assets, net$2,170,945 $2,102,389 
(1) In December 2020, the Company 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 the
Company 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.
Changes in the carrying amount of goodwill by geographic regions are as follows (in thousands):
AmericasEMEAAsia-PacificTotal
Balance as of December 31, 2018$1,745,804 $2,474,164 $616,420 $4,836,388 
Purchase accounting - acquisition— 25,863 (3,683)22,180 
Sale of xScale data center facilities— (59,246)— (59,246)
Sale of NY12 data center(950)— — (950)
Impact of foreign currency exchange(3,165)(14,475)1,126 (16,514)
Balance as of December 31, 20191,741,689 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, 2020$2,212,782 $2,611,166 $648,605 $5,472,553 
Changes in the net book value of intangible assets by geographic regions are as follows (in thousands):
AmericasEMEAAsia-PacificTotal
Balance as of December 31, 2017$1,646,373 $631,219 $107,380 $2,384,972 
Infomart Dallas acquisition65,847 — — 65,847 
Metronode acquisition— — 128,229 128,229 
Other acquisitions— 8,342 — 8,342 
Write-off of intangible asset(334)(1,661)(3)(1,998)
Amortization of intangibles(125,683)(62,283)(15,450)(203,416)
Impact of foreign currency exchange(7,232)(31,757)(9,691)(48,680)
Balance as of December 31, 20181,578,971 543,860 210,465 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, 2020$1,463,089 $518,027 $189,829 $2,170,945 
(1) For further discussion, refer to footnote 1 of the table on the previous page.
The Company's goodwill and intangible assets which are denominated in currencies other than the U.S. Dollar are subject to foreign currency fluctuations. The Company's 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:
2021$206,244 
2022201,455 
2023199,698 
2024198,323 
2025195,742 
Thereafter1,169,483 
Total$2,170,945 
Other Assets
Other assets consisted of the following as of December 31 (in thousands):
20202019
Deferred tax assets, net$66,424 $35,806 
Prepaid expenses (1)
82,443 61,690 
Debt issuance costs, net4,261 6,395 
Deposits69,043 56,567 
Restricted cash9,691 9,946 
Derivative instruments2,793 32,280 
Contract assets, non-current54,050 31,521 
Contract costs267,978 229,205 
Equity method investments163,071 59,737 
Other assets (2)
56,293 57,641 
Total other assets$776,047 $580,788 
(1)As of December 31, 2020, the Company had $21.1 million of capitalized CCA implementation costs, net.
(2)In connection with the Metronode Acquisition in 2018, the Company had indemnification assets of $42.8 million and $37.7 million, as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively, which represented the seller's obligation under the purchase agreement to reimburse pre-acquisition tax liabilities settled after the acquisition.
Accounts Payable and Accrued Expenses
Accounts payable and accrued expenses consisted of the following as of December 31 (in thousands):
20202019
Accounts payable$77,705 $52,232 
Accrued compensation and benefits317,117 241,361 
Accrued interest79,437 103,345 
Accrued taxes (1)
153,804 135,099 
Accrued utilities and security76,910 107,404 
Accrued other139,889 121,277 
Total accounts payable and accrued expenses$844,862 $760,718 
(1)Accrued taxes included income taxes payable of $59.8 million and $57.7 million as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Other Current Liabilities
Other current liabilities consisted of the following as of December 31 (in thousands):
20202019
Deferred revenue, current$101,258 $76,193 
Customer deposits17,115 16,707 
Derivative instruments188,726 31,596 
Dividends payable, current10,873 9,029 
Asset retirement obligations3,993 2,081 
Other current liabilities32,403 18,332 
Total other current liabilities$354,368 $153,938 
Other Liabilities
Other liabilities consisted of the following as of December 31 (in thousands):
20202019
Asset retirement obligations$109,776 $100,334 
Deferred tax liabilities, net290,366 247,179 
Deferred revenue, non-current71,242 46,555 
Accrued taxes178,371 146,046 
Dividends payable, non-current7,947 7,108 
Customer deposits1,088 9,306 
Derivative instruments211,733 4,017 
Other liabilities (1)
78,476 61,180 
Total other liabilities$948,999 $621,725 
(1)Other liabilities included $46.0 million and $41.4 million of the Company’s obligation to pay for future construction for certain sites sold as a part of the EMEA Joint Venture transaction as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. See Note 5 for further discussion.
The following table summarizes the activities of the Company's asset retirement obligation ("ARO") (in thousands):
Asset retirement obligations as of December 31, 2017$98,539 
Additions5,126 
Adjustments (1)
(11,288)
Accretion expense6,285 
Impact of foreign currency exchange(1,999)
Asset retirement obligations as of December 31, 201896,663 
Additions6,980 
Adjustments (1)
(7,969)
Accretion expense6,290 
Impact of foreign currency exchange451 
Asset retirement obligations as of December 31, 2019102,415 
Additions 5,909 
Adjustments (1)
(4,241)
Accretion expense6,331 
Impact of foreign currency exchange3,355 
Asset retirement obligations as of December 31, 2020$113,769 
(1)The ARO adjustments are primarily due to lease amendments and acquisition of real estate assets, as well as other adjustments.