RESTRUCTURING AND FACILITIES CONSOLIDATION INITIATIVES

The Company recorded restructuring and related expense aggregating $16.4 million in the year ended December 31, 2019, $17.0 million in the year ended December 31, 2018 and $9.4 million in the year ended December 31, 2017. Restructuring and related expense includes restructuring expense (primarily severance and related costs), estimated future variable lease costs for vacated properties with no intent or ability of sublease, and accelerated rent amortization expense.

For restructuring events that involve lease assets and liabilities, the Company applies lease reassessment and modification guidance and evaluates the right-of-use assets for potential impairment. If the Company plans to exit all or distinct portions of a facility and does not have the ability or intent to sublease, the Company will accelerate the amortization of each of those lease components through the vacate date. The accelerated amortization is recorded as a component of Restructuring and related expense in the Company's consolidated statements of operations. Related variable lease expenses will continue to be expensed as incurred through the vacate date, at which time the Company will reassess the liability balance to ensure it appropriately reflects the remaining liability associated with the premises and record a liability for the estimated future variable lease costs.

The components of restructuring and related expense for the year ended December 31, 2019 were as follows (in thousands):



Severance and related costs	$	11,179
Variable and other facilities-related costs	1,528
Accelerated amortization of lease assets due to cease-use	3,692
	$	16,399

Prior to the adoption of ASC 842, the Company recorded restructuring accruals for future lease obligations related to vacated facilities at the time that it ceased usage of the respective facility. The components of Restructuring and related expense recorded in the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017 were as follows (in thousands):



	Year ended December 31,
	2018		2017
Severance and related costs	15,217		8,925
Facilities	1,798		511
	$	17,015	$	9,436

2019 Restructuring and Facilities Consolidation Initiative

In June 2019, the Company implemented a restructuring plan to further streamline the Company's global footprint, improve its operations and enhance its customer delivery (the "2019 Restructuring Initiative"). The 2019 Restructuring Initiative includes facility consolidations, refinement of the Company's research and development activities, and a reduction in workforce. In connection with this initiative, the Company expects to reduce its focus on hardware and appliance-based development over time and to increase its development focus on software virtualization, functional simplicity and important customer requirements. The facility consolidations under the 2019 Restructuring Initiative (the "Facilities Initiative") include a consolidation of the Company's North Texas sites into a single campus, housing engineering, customer training and support, and administrative functions, as well as a reduction or elimination of certain excess and duplicative facilities worldwide. In addition, the Company intends to substantially consolidate its global software laboratories and server farms into two lower cost North American sites. The Company continues to evaluate its properties included in the Facilities Initiative for accelerated amortization and/or right-of-use asset impairment. The Company expects that the actions under the Facilities Initiative will be completed by the end of 2020.

In connection with the 2019 Restructuring Initiative, the Company recorded restructuring and related expense of $11.2 million in the year ended December 31, 2019, comprised of $6.1 million for severance and related costs for approximately 120 employees, $1.4 million for variable and other facilities-related costs and $3.7 million for accelerated amortization of lease assets. The Company expects that all of the amount accrued for severance and related costs will be paid in 2020. The Company estimates that it will record nominal, if any, additional restructuring and related expense related to severance and related costs under the 2019 Restructuring Initiative.

Accelerated amortization of lease assets is recognized from the date that the Company commences the plan to fully or partially vacate a facility, for which there is no intent or ability to enter into a sublease, through the final vacate date. The $3.7 million of accelerated rent amortization recorded in 2019 that is included as a component of restructuring and related expense is not included in the table below, as the liability for the total lease payments for each respective facility is included as a component of Operating lease liabilities in the Company's consolidated balance sheet at December 31, 2019, both current and noncurrent (see Note 16). The Company may incur additional future expense if it is unable to sublease other locations included in the Facilities Initiative.

A summary of the 2019 Restructuring Initiative accrual activity, excluding the accelerated amortization of lease assets, for the year ended December 31, 2019 is as follows (in thousands):



	Balance at January 1, 2019		Initiatives charged to expense		Cash payments			Balance at December 31, 2019
Severance	$	—	$	6,103	$	(3,993	)	2,110
Facilities	—		1,372		(381		)	991
	$	—	$	7,475	$	(4,374	)	$	3,101

Merger Restructuring Initiative

In connection with the Merger, the Company's management approved a restructuring plan in the fourth quarter of 2017 to eliminate certain redundant positions and facilities within the combined companies (the "Merger Restructuring Initiative"). In connection with this initiative, the Company recorded $5.2 million of restructuring and related expense in 2019, virtually all of which was for severance and related costs for approximately 40 employees. The Company recorded $16.1 million of restructuring and related expense in 2018 in connection with this initiative, comprised of $14.7 million for severance for approximately 275 additional employees and $1.4 million for redundant facilities in the Czech Republic, Canada and the U.S., and $8.5 million of restructuring and related expense in 2017 for severance and related costs for approximately 120 employees. The Merger Restructuring Initiative is substantially complete, and the Company anticipates it will record nominal future expense, if any, in connection with this initiative. In connection with the adoption of ASC 842, which was effective on January 1, 2019, the Company wrote off the remaining restructuring accrual related to facilities. The Company expects that the amount accrued at December 31, 2019 for severance will be paid by the end of the first half of 2020.

Summaries of the Merger Restructuring Initiative accrual activity for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 are as follows (in thousands):



Year ended December 31, 2019	Balance at January 1, 2019		Initiatives charged to expense		Adjustment for the impact of ASC 842 adoption			Cash payments			Balance at December 31, 2019
Severance	$	1,910	$	5,076	$	—		$	(6,577	)	$	409
Facilities	771		156		(771		)	(156		)	—
	$	2,681	$	5,232	$	(771	)	$	(6,733	)	$	409



Year ended December 31, 2018	Balance at January 1, 2018		Initiatives charged to expense		Adjustments for changes in estimate			Cash payments			Balance at December 31, 2018
Severance	$	7,595	$	14,735	$	(5	)	$	(20,415	)	$	1,910
Facilities	—		1,399		—			(628		)	771
	$	7,595	$	16,134	$	(5	)	$	(21,043	)	$	2,681

Assumed Restructuring Initiative

The Company assumed GENBAND's previously recorded restructuring liability, totaling $4.1 million, on the Merger Date (the "GENBAND Restructuring Initiative"). Of this amount, $3.7 million related to severance and related costs and $0.4 million related to facilities. Subsequent to the Merger, the Company recorded $0.6 million in the aggregate in connection with the GENBAND Restructuring Initiative, comprised of $0.9 million of restructuring and related expense in 2018 and a credit of $0.3 million to restructuring and related expense in 2017 for changes in estimated costs for this previously recorded and assumed restructuring initiative, primarily changes in negotiated severance to employees in certain international locations and changes in estimated sublease income for restructured facilities. The GENBAND Restructuring Initiative is complete, and the Company does not expect to record future expense in connection with this initiative. In connection with the adoption of ASC 842, which was effective on January 1, 2019, the Company wrote off the remaining restructuring accrual related to facilities.

Summaries of the GENBAND Restructuring Initiative accrual activity for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 are as follows (in thousands):



Year ended December 31, 2019	Balance at January 1, 2019		Adjustment for the impact of ASC 842 adoption			Balance at December 31, 2019
Facilities	$	117	$	(117	)	$	—



Year ended December 31, 2018	Balance at January 1, 2018		Adjustments for changes in estimate		Cash payments			Balance at December 31, 2018
Severance	$	1,916	$	487	$	(2,403	)	$	—
Facilities	205		399		(487		)	117
	$	2,121	$	886	$	(2,890	)	$	117

2016 Restructuring Initiative

In July 2016, the Company announced a program (the "2016 Restructuring Initiative") to further accelerate its investment in new technologies to address the communications industry's migration to a cloud-based architecture and to support the Company's strategic initiatives, such as new products and an expanded go-to-market footprint in selected geographies and discrete vertical markets. The Company recorded $2.0 million of restructuring and related expense in the aggregate in connection with this initiative, comprised of $1.9 million for severance and related costs and $0.1 million to abandon its facility in Rochester, New York (the "Rochester Facility"). The actions under the 2016 Restructuring Initiative were completed in 2019, and accordingly, no additional expense will be recorded in connection with this initiative.

In connection with the 2016 Restructuring Initiative, the Company recorded $0.5 million of restructuring expense in the year ended December 31, 2017, including adjustments for changes in estimated costs, comprised of $0.4 million for severance and related costs and $0.1 million related to the Company's Rochester Facility.

Summaries of the 2016 Restructuring Initiative accrual activity for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 are as follows (in thousands):



Year ended December 31, 2019	Balance at January 1, 2019		Cash payments			Balance at December 31, 2019
Facilities	$	58	$	(58	)	$	—



Year ended December 31, 2018	Balance at January 1, 2018		Cash payments			Balance at December 31, 2018
Facilities	$	95	$	(37	)	$	58

Taqua Restructuring Initiative

In connection with the acquisition of Taqua, the Company's management approved a restructuring plan in the third quarter of 2016 to eliminate certain redundant positions within the combined companies. On October 24, 2016, the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors of the Company approved a broader Taqua restructuring plan related to headcount and redundant facilities (both restructuring plans, the "Taqua Restructuring Initiative"). The Company recorded $1.8 million of restructuring and related expense in the aggregate in connection with this initiative, comprised of $1.2 million for severance and related costs and $0.6 million related to the elimination of redundant facilities, including adjustments recorded for changes in cost estimates for the planned restructuring activities. Of this amount, $0.7 million was recorded in 2017, comprised of $0.2 million for severance and related costs and $0.5 million related to redundant facilities. The actions under the Taqua Restructuring Initiative have been completed and accordingly, no additional expense will be recorded in connection with this initiative. In connection with the adoption of ASC 842, which was effective on January 1, 2019, the Company wrote off the remaining restructuring accrual related to facilities.

Summaries of the Taqua Restructuring Initiative accrual activity for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 are as follows (in thousands):



Year ended December 31, 2019	Balance at January 1, 2019		Adjustment for the impact of ASC 842 adoption			Balance at December 31, 2019
Facilities	$	33	$	(33	)	$	—



Year ended December 31, 2018	Balance at January 1, 2018		Cash payments			Balance at December 31, 2018
Facilities	$	365	$	(332	)	$	33

Balance Sheet Classification

The current portions of accrued restructuring are included as a component of Accrued expenses in the consolidated balance sheets. The long-term portions of accrued restructuring are included as a component of Other long-term liabilities in the consolidated balance sheets. The long-term portions of accrued restructuring were $0.9 million at December 31, 2019 and $0.5 million at December 31, 2018. The amount recorded as long-term at December 31, 2018 represented future lease payments on restructured facilities.