The fair value of our financial assets and liabilities is determined by reference to market data and other valuation techniques as appropriate. We believe the fair value of our financial instruments, which are principally cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, receivables, other current assets, accounts payable and accrued liabilities, approximates their recorded values. Our assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis are described below.

We currently use interest rate swap contracts as described below to mitigate gains or losses associated with the change in expected cash flows due to fluctuations in interest rates on our variable rate debt.

In February 2018, we entered into interest rate swap contracts to hedge a portion of our interest expense associated with our variable rate debt to effectively fix the interest rate that we pay. These interest rate swap contracts are designated as cash flow hedges under ASC 815. We pay interest at a weighted-average fixed rate of 2.4418% and receive interest at a variable rate equal to one-month LIBOR. The total notional amount of interest rate swaps outstanding was $800 million as of September 30, 2021. These hedges mature in February 2022.

These hedges are highly effective in offsetting changes in our future expected cash flows due to the fluctuation in the one-month LIBOR rate associated with our variable rate debt. We qualitatively monitor the effectiveness of these hedges on a quarterly basis. As a result of the effective matching of the critical terms on our variable rate interest expense being hedged to the hedging instruments being used, we expect these hedges to remain highly effective.

All gains and losses from these hedges are recorded in Other comprehensive loss until the future underlying payment transactions occur. Any realized gains or losses resulting from the hedges are recognized (together with the hedged transaction) as Interest expense. We estimate the fair value of our interest rate swap contracts by discounting the future cash flows of both the fixed rate and variable rate interest payments based on market yield curves. The inputs used to measure the fair value of our interest rate swap contracts are categorized as Level 2 in the fair value hierarchy as established by ASC 820.


	Three Months Ended September 30,				Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2021		2020		2021		2020
Gain (loss) recorded in accumulated other comprehensive loss, net of tax	$	5	$	4	$	14	$	(10)
Interest expense recorded related to interest rate swap contracts	5		4		14		10


	Three Months Ended September 30,				Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2021		2020		2021		2020
	Interest expense				Interest expense
Total interest expense which reflects the effects of cash flow hedges	$	(120)	$	(131)	$	(360)	$	(379)
Hedged item	(5)		(5)		(14)		(15)
Derivative designated as hedging instrument	—		1		—		5

In connection with the February 2018 Refinancing described in Note 15 of our 2020 10-K, we entered into certain cross-currency interest rate swap agreements to achieve more beneficial interest rates by effectively converting $460 million of our fixed-rate U.S. Dollar-denominated 2025 Secured Notes, including the semi-annual interest payments through October 2023, to fixed-rate Euro-denominated debt, with a fixed annual weighted average interest rate of approximately 2.946%. We have designated these cross-currency interest rate swap agreements as a net investment hedge of our investments in certain of our international subsidiaries that use the Euro as their functional currency in order to reduce the volatility in our operating results caused by the changes in foreign currency exchange rates of the Euro relative to the U.S. Dollar.

We use the spot method to measure the effectiveness of our net investment hedge. Under this method, for each reporting period, the change in the fair value of the $460 million cross-currency interest rate swaps is reported in Foreign currency translation gain (loss) in Accumulated other comprehensive loss. The cross-currency basis spread (along with other components of the cross-currency swap’s fair value excluded from the spot method effectiveness assessment) are amortized and recorded to Interest expense. We evaluate the effectiveness of our net investment hedge at the beginning of each quarter.

As of

Balance Sheet Line Item

September 30, 2021

December 31, 2020

Interest rate swaps (1)(3)

Accrued liabilities/Other liabilities

Cross-currency interest rate swaps (2)(3)

Other assets

(1) Gains of $5 million and $14 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021, respectively, are reflected in Derivative financial instrument unrealized gain (loss) in Other comprehensive gain (loss).

(2) Gains of $12 million and $25 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021, respectively, are reflected in Foreign currency translation gain (loss) in Other comprehensive gain (loss).

(3) The inputs used to measure the fair value of our interest rate swap contracts are categorized as Level 2 in the fair value hierarchy.

For the third quarter of 2021, we designated $180 million of our 2026 Secured Euro Notes as a net investment non-derivative hedge of our investments in certain of our international subsidiaries that use the Euro as their functional currency in order to reduce the volatility in our results caused by the changes in foreign currency exchange rates of the Euro relative to the U.S. Dollar.

We use the spot method to measure the effectiveness of our net investment non-derivative hedge. Under this method, for each reporting period, the change in the hedged portion of the carrying value of the 2026 Secured Euro Notes due to remeasurement is reported in Foreign currency translation gain (loss) in Other comprehensive loss, and the remaining remeasurement change is recognized in (Loss) gain on remeasurement of debt in our consolidated statements of operations. We evaluate the effectiveness of our net investment non-derivative hedge at the beginning of each quarter, and the inputs used to measure the fair value of this non-derivative hedge are categorized as Level 2 in the fair value hierarchy.

In connection with our acquisitions, we have recorded certain contingent consideration liabilities, of which the values are primarily based on reaching certain earnings-based metrics. The related liabilities were recorded at fair value on the acquisition date as part of the consideration transferred and are remeasured each reporting period. The inputs used to measure the fair value of our liabilities are categorized as Level 3 in the fair value hierarchy.

Contingent acquisition consideration liabilities (including deferred purchase price) as of September 30, 2021, are $20 million, of which $1 million is included in Accrued liabilities with the remainder included in Other long-term liabilities.