American Tower 10-Q 2023-03-31

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

(Mark One):

☒ Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. For the quarterly period ended March 31, 2023.

☐ Transition report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Commission File Number: 001-14195

AMERICAN TOWER CORPORATION

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

116 Huntington Avenue

Boston, Massachusetts 02116

(Address of principal executive offices)

Telephone Number (617) 375-7500

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days: Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act): Yes ☐ No ☒

As of April 19, 2023, there were 466,043,234 shares of common stock outstanding.

AMERICAN TOWER CORPORATION

TABLE OF CONTENTS

QUARTERLY REPORT ON FORM 10-Q

FOR THE QUARTER ENDED MARCH 31, 2023

AMERICAN TOWER CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(in millions, except share count and per share data)

See accompanying notes to unaudited consolidated and condensed consolidated financial statements.

AMERICAN TOWER CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

(in millions, except share and per share data)

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This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (this “Quarterly Report”) contains statements about future events and expectations, or forward-looking statements, relating to our goals, beliefs, strategies, plans or current expectations and other statements that are not of historical facts. For example, when we use words such as “project,” “plan,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “estimate,” “intend,” “should,” “would,” “could,” “may” or other words that convey uncertainty of future events or outcomes, we are making forward-looking statements. Certain important factors may cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by our forward-looking statements, including those set forth under the caption “Risk Factors” in Part I, Item 1A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 (the “2022 Form 10-K”). Forward-looking statements represent management’s current expectations, beliefs and assumptions, and are inherently uncertain. We do not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements made by us.

The discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations that follow are based upon our consolidated and condensed consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”). The preparation of our financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, revenues and expenses, and the related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of our financial statements. Actual results may differ from these estimates and such differences could be material to the financial statements. This discussion should be read in conjunction with our consolidated and condensed consolidated financial statements herein and the accompanying notes, information set forth under the caption “Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates” in the 2022 Form 10-K, and in particular, the information set forth therein under Item 7 “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”

Overview

We are one of the largest global real estate investment trusts and a leading independent owner, operator and developer of multitenant communications real estate. Our primary business is the leasing of space on communications sites to wireless service providers, radio and television broadcast companies, wireless data providers, government agencies and municipalities and tenants in a number of other industries. In addition to the communications sites in our portfolio, we manage rooftop and tower sites for property owners under various contractual arrangements. We also hold other telecommunications infrastructure, fiber and property interests that we lease primarily to communications service providers and third-party tower operators, and, as discussed further below, we hold a portfolio of highly interconnected data center facilities and related assets in the United States. Our customers include our tenants, licensees and other payers. We refer to the business encompassing the above as our property operations, which accounted for 98% of our total revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and includes our U.S. & Canada property, Asia-Pacific property, Africa property, Europe property and Latin America property segments and Data Centers segment.

We also offer tower-related services in the United States, including site application, zoning and permitting, structural analysis and construction management, which primarily support our site leasing business, including the addition of new tenants and equipment on our sites.

The following table details the number of communications sites, excluding managed sites, that we owned or operated as of March 31, 2023:

(1)Approximately 95% of the operated towers are held pursuant to long-term finance leases, including those subject to purchase options.

(2)We also control land under carrier or other third-party communications sites in Australia and

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Interest Rate Risk

As of March 31, 2023, we have three interest rate swap agreements related to a portion of our 3.000% senior unsecured notes due 2023 (the “3.000% Notes”). These swaps have been designated as fair value hedges, have an aggregate notional amount of $500.0 million and an interest rate of one-month LIBOR plus applicable spreads and expire in June 2023.

Changes in interest rates can cause interest charges to fluctuate on our variable rate debt. Variable rate debt as of March 31, 2023 consisted of $2.9 billion under the 2021 Multicurrency Credit Facility, $1.2 billion under the 2021 Credit Facility, $1.0 billion under the 2021 Term Loan, $894.2 million under the 2021 EUR Three Year Delayed Draw Term Loan, $1.5 billion under the 2021 USD Two Year Delayed Draw Term Loan and $500.0 million under the interest rate swap agreements related to the 3.000% Notes and $33.8 million under the Nigeria letters of credit. A 10% increase in current interest rates would result in an additional $10.5 million of interest expense for the three months ended March 31, 2023.

Foreign Currency Risk

We are exposed to market risk from changes in foreign currency exchange rates primarily in connection with our foreign subsidiaries and joint ventures internationally. Any transaction denominated in a currency other than the U.S. Dollar is reported in U.S. Dollars at the applicable exchange rate. All assets and liabilities are translated into U.S. Dollars at exchange rates in effect at the end of the applicable fiscal reporting period and all revenues and expenses are translated at average rates for the period. The cumulative translation effect is included in equity as a component of Accumulated other comprehensive loss. We may enter into additional foreign currency financial instruments in anticipation of future transactions to minimize the impact of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations. For the three months ended March 31, 2023, 44% of our revenues and 51% of our total operating expenses were denominated in foreign currencies.

As of March 31, 2023, we have incurred intercompany debt that is not considered to be permanently reinvested and similar unaffiliated balances that were denominated in a currency other than the functional currency of the subsidiary in which it is recorded. As this debt had not been designated as being a long-term investment in nature, any changes in the foreign currency exchange rates will result in unrealized gains or losses, which will be included in our determination of net income. An adverse change of 10% in the underlying exchange rates of our unsettled intercompany debt and similar unaffiliated balances would result in $51.6 million of unrealized losses that would be included in Other expense in our consolidated statements of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2023. As of March 31, 2023, we have 7.3 billion EUR (approximately $7.9 billion) denominated debt outstanding. An adverse change of 10% in the underlying exchange rates of our outstanding EUR debt would result in $0.9 billion of foreign currency losses that would be included in Other expense in our consolidated statements of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2023.

Disclosure Controls and Procedures

We have established disclosure controls and procedures designed to ensure that material information relating to us, including our consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to the officers who certify our financial reports and to other members of senior management and the Board of Directors.

Our management, with the participation of our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, evaluated the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), as of the end of the period covered by this Quarterly Report. Based on this evaluation, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer concluded that these disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of March 31, 2023 and designed to ensure that the information required to be disclosed in our reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the requisite time periods specified in the applicable rules and forms, and that it is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

There have been no changes in our internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Exchange Act) during the fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2023 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

PART II. OTHER INFORMATION

We periodically become involved in various claims and lawsuits that are incidental to our business. In the opinion of management, after consultation with counsel, there are no matters currently pending that would, in the event of an adverse outcome, have a material impact on our consolidated financial position, results of operations or liquidity.

There were no material changes to the risk factors disclosed in Item 1A of the 2022 Form 10-K.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.