Financial Instruments and Fair Value Measurements (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

Derivative Instruments And Hedging Activities Disclosure [Abstract]

Foreign Currency Contracts Activity

The following table summarizes the activity in our foreign currency contracts for the years ended December 31 (in millions, except for weighted average forward rates and number of active contracts):

	2015
	Net Investment Forward Contracts												Forward and Option Contracts
Local Currency	EUR			GBP			JPY			CAD			EUR (1)			GBP (1) (2)			JPY (1)			Other (1)
Notional amounts at January 1	€	300		£	238		¥	24,136		$	-		€	284		£	-		¥	-
New contracts		-			118			43,373			394			333			199			18,740
Matured or expired contracts		(300	)		(118	)		(67,509	)		(394	)		(342	)		(102	)		(5,900	)
Notional amounts at December 31	€	-		£	238		¥	-		$	-		€	275		£	97		¥	12,840
U.S. Dollar
Notional amounts at January 1	$	400		$	400		$	250		$	-		$	354		$	-		$	-		$	-
New contracts		-			186			353			298			375			300			159			71
Matured or expired contracts		(400	)		(200	)		(603	)		(298	)		(419	)		(152	)		(50	)		(21	)
Notional amounts at December 31	$	-		$	386		$	-		$	-		$	310		$	148		$	109		$	50
Weighted average forward    rate at December 31		-			1.62			-			-			1.13			1.31			118.23
Active contracts at December 31		-			3			-			-			19			16			16			20

	2014											2013
	Net Investment Forward Contracts								Forward and Option Contracts (1)			Net Investment Forward Contracts
Local Currency	EUR			GBP		JPY			EUR			EUR			JPY
Notional amounts at January 1	€	600		£	-	¥	24,136		€	-		€	1,000		¥	-
New contracts		1,746			238		79,010			365			600			24,136
Matured or expired contracts		(2,046	)		-		(79,010	)		(81	)		(1,000	)		-
Notional amounts at December 31	€	300		£	238	¥	24,136		€	284		€	600		¥	24,136
U.S. Dollar
Notional amounts at January 1	$	800		$	-	$	250		$	-		$	1,304		$	-
New contracts		2,354			400		769			464			800			250
Matured or expired contracts		(2,754	)		-		(769	)		(110	)		(1,304	)		-
Notional amounts at December 31	$	400		$	400	$	250		$	354		$	800		$	250

(1) During 2015 and 2014, we exercised 32 and 3 option contracts and realized gains of $14.6 million and $1.1 million, respectively, in Foreign Currency and Derivative Gains (Losses) and Related Amortization, Net.

(2) Included in our British pounds sterling denominated option contracts are three forward contracts to sell British pounds sterling and buy euros. These forwards have a notional amount of £16.0 million (€21.5 million) and were reported in this table using a weighted average exchange rate of $1.09 U.S. dollars to the euro.

Summary of Activity in Interest Rate Swaps

The following table summarizes the activity in our interest rate swaps for the years ended December 31 (in millions, except for the number of active contracts):

	2015 (1)			2014			2013
Notional amounts at January 1	$	398		$	71		$	1,315
New contracts (2) (3)		1,396			398			-
Matured or expired contracts (3) (4)		(360	)		(71	)		(1,244	)
Notional amounts at December 31	$	1,434		$	398		$	71

(1) We had seven interest rate swaps hedges outstanding at December 31, 2015.

(2) During 2015, we entered into two contracts with a notional amount of $526.3 million (¥65.0 billion) on the 2015 Yen Term Loan and three contracts with a notional amount of CAD $371.9 million ($510.0 million) on the Canadian Term Loan to effectively fix the interest rates. During 2014, we entered into two contracts with a notional amount of $398.3 million (¥40.9 billion) to effectively fix the interest rate on the 2014 Yen Term Loan. See Note 9 for more information on the 2015 Yen Term Loan.  

(3) In the third quarter of 2015, we entered into two contracts with a notional amount of $360.0 million to effectively fix the interest rate at the three month LIBOR rate of 2.3% on expected future debt issuances. These contracts were designated as interest rate forward hedges. These contracts were settled in the fourth quarter of 2015 when we entered into the $750.0 million of senior notes. We recorded a loss of $11.0 million associated with these derivatives that will be amortized to Interest Expense, in accordance with our policy.

(4) During 2013, we settled 13 contracts with a notional value of $333.5 million, and contributed 13 contracts with a notional value of $383.9 million related to the transfer of assets to the newly formed PELP co-investment venture. We also settled five contracts in Japan with a notional value of $526.4 million in connection with the contributions of properties to NPR.

Schedule of Fair Value of Derivative Instruments

The following table presents the fair value of our derivative instruments at December 31 (in thousands):

	2015				2014
	Asset		Liability		Asset		Liability
Net investment hedges – euro denominated (1)	$	-	$	-	$	22,891	$	-
Net investment hedges – pound sterling denominated		33,471		-		29,097		-
Net investment hedges – yen denominated (1)		-		-		46,934		-
Cash flow hedge foreign currency options – peso denominated		-		88		-		-
Foreign currency options – Canadian dollar denominated (2)		3,324		-		-		-
Foreign currency options – euro denominated (2)		11,711		84		7,742		-
Foreign currency options – pound sterling denominated (2)		4,241		745		-		-
Foreign currency options – yen denominated (2)		832		717		-		-
Interest rate hedges		-		12,095		-		1,395
Total fair value of derivatives	$	53,579	$	13,729	$	106,664	$	1,395

(1) During the second quarter of 2015, we terminated our euro and yen denominated net investment hedges. See below for additional information about the gains recognized upon termination.

(2) As discussed above, these foreign currency options are not designated as hedges. We recognized gains of $22.1 million and $7.7 million in Foreign Currency and Derivative Losses and Related Amortization, Net from the change in value of our outstanding foreign currency option contracts for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively.

Summary of Gains (Losses) From Change in Fair Value of Derivative Instruments Included in Other Comprehensive Income

The following table presents the gains and (losses) associated with the change in fair value for the effective portion of our derivative and nonderivative instruments included in Other Comprehensive Income for the years ended December 31 (in thousands):

	2015			2014			2013
Derivative net investment hedges (1)	$	63,934		$	122,164		$	17,847
Interest rate hedges (2)		(21,602	)		(804	)		(69	)
Cash flow hedges		(112	)		-			-
Our share of derivatives from unconsolidated co-investment ventures		4,257			(5,694	)		19,659
Total gain on derivative instruments		46,477			115,666			37,437
Nonderivative net investment hedges (3)		321,148			321,196			(14,910	)
Total gain on derivative and nonderivative hedging instruments	$	367,625		$	436,862		$	22,527

(1) We received $128.2 million, $13.0 million and $7.8 million for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively, on the settlement of net investment hedges.

(2) The amounts reclassified to interest expense for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively, were not considered significant. For the next 12 months from December 31, 2015, we estimate an additional expense of $5.6 million will be reclassified to Interest Expense.

(3) At December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, we had €3.2 billion ($3.5 billion), €2.5 billion ($3.0 billion) and €700 million ($1.0 billion) of debt, net of accrued interest, respectively, designated as nonderivative financial instrument hedges of our net investment in international subsidiaries. We had €97.6 million ($118.5 million) of debt that was not designated as a nonderivative financial instrument hedge at December 31, 2014. We recognized unrealized gains of $10.0 million and $7.5 million in Foreign Currency and Derivative Gains (Losses) and Related Amortization, Net on the unhedged portion of our debt for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively.

Carrying Amounts and Estimated Fair Values of Debt

The following table reflects the carrying amounts and estimated fair values of our debt at December 31 (in thousands):

	2015				2014
	Carrying Value		Fair Value		Carrying Value		Fair Value
Credit Facilities	$	-	$	-	$	-	$	-
Senior notes		6,516,392		6,801,118		6,046,965		6,593,657
Exchangeable senior notes		-		-		456,373		511,931
Term loans and other debt		2,115,457		2,128,270		584,124		591,810
Secured mortgage debt		1,172,473		1,262,778		1,042,628		1,173,488
Secured mortgage debt of consolidated entities		1,822,509		1,825,361		1,206,887		1,209,271
Total debt	$	11,626,831	$	12,017,527	$	9,336,977	$	10,080,157