
CAPITAL STRUCTURE
Objectives
∙To understand how a firm can create value through its financing decisions.
∙To show how to take account of a firm’s financing mix in evaluating investment decisions.
Outline
16.1 Internal versus External Financing
16.2 Equity Financing
16.3 Debt Financing
16.4 The Irrelevance of Capital Structure in a Frictionless Environment
16.5 Creating Value through Financing Decisions
16.6 Reducing Costs
16.7 Dealing with Conflicts of Interest
16.8 Creating New Opportunities for Stakeholders
16.9 Financing Decisions in Practice
16.10 How to Evaluate Levered Investments
Summary
∙External financing subjects a corporation’s investment plans more directly to the discipline of the capital market than internal financing does.
∙Debt financing in its broadest sense includes loans and debt securities, such as bonds and mortgages, as well as other promises of future payment by the corporation, such as accounts payable, leases, and pensions.
∙In a frictionless financial environment, where there are no taxes or transaction costs, and contracts are costless to make and enforce, the wealth of shareholders is the same no matter what capital structure the firm adopts.
∙In the real world there are a number of frictions that can cause capital structure policy to have an effect on the wealth of shareholders. These include taxes, regulations, and conflicts of interest between the stakeholders of the firm. A firm’s management might therefore be able to create shareholder value through its capital structure decisions in one of three ways:
∙By reducing tax costs or the costs of burdensome regulations.
∙By reducing potential conflicts of interest among various stakeholders in the firm.
∙By providing stakeholders with financial assets not otherwise available to them.
∙There are three alternative methods used in estimating the net present value of an investment project to take account of financial leverage: the adjusted present value method, the flows to equity method, and the weighted average cost of capital method
Solutions to Problems at End of Chapter
Debt-Equity Mix
1. Divido Corporation is an all-equity financed firm with a total market value of $100 million. The company holds $10 million in cash-equivalents and has $90 million in other assets. There are 1,000,000 shares of Divido common stock outstanding, each with a market price of $100. Divido Corporation has decided to issue $20 million of bonds and to repurchase $20 million worth of its stock.
a.What will be the impact on the price of its shares and on the wealth of its shareholders? Why?
b.Assume that Divido’s EBIT has an equal probability of being $20 million, or $12 million, or $4million. Show the impact of the financial restructuring on the probability distribution of earnings per share in the absence of taxes. Why does the fact that the equity becomes riskier not necessarily affect shareholder wealth?
SOLUTION:
a.In an M&M frictionless environment, where there are no taxes and contracts are costless to make and enforce, the wealth of shareholders is the same no matter what capital structure the firm adopts. In such an environment, neither the stock price nor shareholders’ wealth would be affected. In the real world Divido’s management might be able to create shareholder value by issuing debt and repurchasing shares in two ways:
By reducing tax costs
By reducing the free cash flow available to management and exposing itself to greater market discipline.
b.The formula for EPS without debt is:
EPSall equity = EBIT
1,000,000 shares
The interest payments will be $1.2 million per year (.06 x $20 million) regardless of the realized value of EBIT. The number of shares outstanding after exchanging debt for equity will be 800,000. EPS with debt is therefore:
EPSwith debt = Net Earnings = EBIT – $1.2 million
800,000 shares 800,000 shares
Probability Distribution of Divido’s EBIT and EPS
| State of the Economy | EBIT | All equity financing | With $20 million of debt | |
| EPS (1 million shares) | Net Earnings | EPS (800,000 shares) | ||
| Bad business | $4 million | $4 per share | $2.8 million | $3.50 per share |
| Normal business | 12 | 12 | 10.8 | 13.50 |
| Good business | 20 | 20 | 18.8 | 23.50 |
| Mean | 12 | 12 | 10.8 | 13.50 |
| Standard deviation | $6.53 | $8.16 | ||
Leasing
2. Plentilease and Nolease are virtually identical corporations. The only difference between them is that Plentilease leases most of its plant and equipment whereas Nolease buys its plant and equipment and finances it by borrowing. Compare and contrast their market-value balance sheets.
SOLUTION:
Market-Value Balance Sheets of Nolease and Plentilease Corporations
a.Nolease Corporation
| Assets | Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity | ||
| Plant and equipment | Bonds | ||
| Other assets | Equity | ||
| Total | Total |
| Assets | Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity | ||
| Plant and equipment | Lease | ||
| Other assets | Equity | ||
| Total | Total |
Pension Liabilities
3. Europens and Asiapens are virtually identical corporations. The only difference between them is that Europens has a completely unfunded pension plan, and Asiapens has a fully funded pension plan. Compare and contrast their market-value balance sheets. What difference does the funding status of the pension plan make to the stakeholders of these two corporations?
SOLUTION:
Balance Sheets of Asiapens and Europens Corporations
a.Asiapens Balance Sheet
| Assets | Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity | ||
| Operating assets: Plant, equipment, etc. | Bonds | ||
| Pension liability | |||
| Pension assets: stocks, bonds, etc. | Shareholders’ Equity | ||
| Total | Total |
| Assets | Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity | ||
| Operating assets: Plant, equipment, etc. | Pension liability | ||
| Shareholders’ Equity | |||
| Total | Total | ||
4. Comfort Shoe Company of England has decided to spin off its Tango Dance Shoe Division as a separate corporation in the United States. The assets of the Tango Dance Shoe Division have the same operating risk characteristics as those of Comfort. The capital structure of Comfort has been 40% debt and 60% equity in terms of marketing values, and is considered by management to be optimal. The required return on Comfort’s assets (if unlevered) is 16% per year, and the interest rate that the firm (and the division) must currently pay on their debt is 10% per year.
Sales revenue for the Tango Shoe Division is expected to remain indefinitely at last year’s level of $10 million. Variable costs are 55% of sales. Annual depreciation is $1 million, which is exactly matched each year by new investments. The corporate tax rate is 40%.
a.How much is the Tango Shoe Division worth in unlevered form?
b.If the Tango Shoe Division is spun off with $5 million in debt, how much would it be worth?
c.What rate of return will the shareholders of the Tango Shoe Division require?
d.Show that the market value of the equity of the new firm would be justified by the earnings to the shareholders.
SOLUTION:
a.The unlevered free cash flow for the Tango Shoe Division would be (in $millions):
Sales: $10.0
Var. Cost: -5.5
Depreciation - 1.0
Taxable Income $ 3.5
Taxes (@40%) -1.4
After-Tax Income $2.1
Depreciation 1.0
Investment -1.0
Free Cash Flow $2.1 million
Unlevered, Tango is worth: $2.1 million / 0.16 = $13.125 million
b.If Tango had $5 million of debt, its total value would be:
Market Value with Debt = Market Value without Debt + PV of Interest Tax Shield
VL = VU + T x B
= $13.125 + (.4 x 5) = $15.125 million
Tango Equity = $15.125 - $5 = $10.125 million
c.Tango’s cost of equity capital would be .1778
ke = k + (1-T)(k - r)D/E = .16 + (1-.4)(.16-.10)x 5/10.125 = .1778
d.The value of the equity should be the present value of the expected net income discounted at the required rate of return on equity. The expected net income will be the unlevered cash flow less the after-tax cost of the interest of the debt:
$2.1 - (.6) (.1 x $5) = $2.1 - $.3 = $1.8 million per year
S = $1.8 million / .1778 = $10.125 million
5. Based on the above problem, Suppose that Foxtrot Dance Shoes makes custom designed dance shoes and is a competitor of Tango Dance Shoes. Foxtrot has similar risks and characteristics as Tango except that it is completely unlevered. Fearful that Tango Dance Shoes may try to take over Foxtrot in order to control their niche in the market, Foxtrot decides to lever the firm to buy back stock.
a.If there are currently 500,000 shares outstanding, what is the value of Foxtrot’s stock?
b.How many shares can Foxtrot buy back and at what value if it is willing to borrow 30% of the value of the firm?
c.What if it is willing to borrow 40% of the value of the firm?
d.Should Foxtrot borrow more?
SOLUTION:
a.Current price per share: $13.125 million /.5 million shares = $26.25 per share
b.@30% debt
Amount to borrow: 30% of 13.125 million = $3.9375 million
PV of Tax Shield = .4 x $3.9375 million = $1.575 million
Value of levered firm = $13.125 + $1.575 = $14.7 million
Value of equity in levered firm = $14.7 million - $3.9375 million = $10.7625 million
To compute the number of shares Foxtrot can repurchase, we need to know the price per share.
If Foxtrot can repurchase shares at the existing price of $26.25 then the number of shares retired will be
$3.9375 million/$26.25 per share = .15 million shares. This will leave .35 million shares outstanding, and the price of each share will be $10.7625 million/.35 million = $30.75.
If the PV of the tax shield gets incorporated in the price of the shares before the repurchase, then the price of the shares will increase by $1.575 million/.5 million = $3.15. So the price of the repurchased shares will be
$26.25 + $3.15 = $29.40.
Then the number of shares retired will be $3.9375 million/$29.40 per share = 133,929 shares. This will leave 366,071 shares outstanding each with a price of $29.40.
c.
@40% debt
Amount to borrow: 40% of $13.125 million = $5.25 million
PV of Tax Shield = .4 x $5.25 million = $2.1 million
Value of levered firm = $13.125 + $2.1 = $15.225 million
Value of equity in levered firm = $15.225 million - $5.25 million = $9.975 million
If Foxtrot can repurchase shares at the existing price of $26.25 then the number of shares retired will be
$5.25 million/$26.25 per share = .2 million shares. This will leave .3 million shares outstanding, and the price of each share will be $9.975 million/.3 million = $33.25.
If the PV of the tax shield gets incorporated in the price of the shares before the repurchase, then the price of the shares will increase by $2.1 million/.5 million = $4.20. So the price of the repurchased shares will be
$26.25 + $4.20 = $30.45.
Then the number of shares retired will be $5.25million/$30.45 per share = 172,414 shares. This will leave 327,586 shares outstanding each with a price of $30.45.
d. Foxtrot’s management must trade off the tax savings due to additional debt financing against the costs of financial distress that rise with the degree of debt financing.
6. Hanna-Charles Company needs to add a new fleet of vehicles for their sales force. The purchasing manager has been working with a local car dealership to get the best value for the company dollar. After some negotiations, a local dealer has offered Hanna-Charles two options: 1) a three year lease on the fleet of cars or 2) 15% off the top to purchase outright. Option 2 would cost Hanna-Charles company about 5% less than the lease option in terms of present value.
a.What are the advantages and disadvantages of leasing?
b.Which option should the purchasing manager at Hanna-Charles pursue and why?
SOLUTION:
a.Advantages:
The lessor bears all the residual-value risk
Tax Benefits
No disposal concerns (or resale) when life of equipment is expended.
Disadvantages:
No ownership while maintaining maintenance responsibility
b.Lease or Buy:
Hanna-Charles company should lease. Although they may spend more with the lease, they do not bear the residual-value risk.
7. Havem and Needem companies are exactly the same differing only in their capital structures. Havem is an unlevered firm issuing only stocks whereas Needem issues stocks and bonds. Neither firm pays corporate taxes. Havem pays out all of its yearly earnings in the form of dividends and has 1 million shares outstanding. Its market capitalization rate is 11% and the firm is currently valued at $180 million. Needem is identical except that 40% of its value is in bonds and has 500,000 shares outstanding. Needem’s bonds are risk free and pay a coupon of 9% per year and are rolled over every year.
a.What is the value of Needem’s shares?
b.As an investor forecasting the upcoming year, you examine Havem and Needem using three possible states of the economy that are all equally likely: normal, bad, and exceptional. Assuming the earnings will be the same, one half, and one and a half respectively, produce a table that shows the earnings and the earnings per share for both Havem and Needem in all three scenarios.
SOLUTION:
a.Needem has $72 million in debt and $108 million in equity. Since there are 500,000 shares, the value of each share is $216.
b.Expected EBIT = $180 million x 11% = $19.8 million per year
Interest expense for Needem = $72 million x .09 = $6.48 million per year
| State of the Economy | EBIT | Havem | Needem | |
| EPS (1 million shares) | Net Earningsb | EPS (500,000 shares) | ||
| Bad | $9.9 million | $9.90/share | $3.42million | $6.84/share |
| Normal | 19.8 million | 19.80 | 13.32 million | 26. |
| Exceptional | 29.7 million | 29.70 | 23.22 million | 46.44 |
| Mean | 19.80 | 26. | ||
| Std. Dev. | 8.08 | 16.17 | ||
8. Using the foregoing example, let us now assume that Havem and Needem must pay taxes at the rate of 40% annually. Given the same distribution of possible outcomes as previously:
a.What are the possible after-tax cash flows for Havem and Needem?
b.What are the values of the shares?
c.If one was not risk averse, which company would that person invest in?
SOLUTION:
a.After-tax CFHavem = (1 -Tax Rate) EBIT = Net income
Net incomeNeedem = (1 -Tax Rate) (EBIT - Int. Pmt.)
CFNeedem = (1 -Tax Rate) (EBIT) + Tax Rate x Int. Pmt
CFNeedem (bad) = (.60) $9.9 + (.40) x 6.48 = $8.532 million
CFNeedem (normal) = (.60) $19.8 + (.40) x 6.48 = $14.472 million
CFNeedem (except.) = (.60) $29.7 + (.40) x 6.48 = $20.412 million
| State of the Economy | Havem | Needem | |
| After-Tax Cash Flow | Tax Shield on Debt | After-Tax Cash Flow | |
| Bad | $5.94 million | $2.592 million | $8.532 million |
| Normal | 11.88 million | $2.592 million | $14.472 million |
| Exceptional | 17.82 million | $2.592 million | $20.412 million |
The total value of Needem’s debt + equity will be $108,000,000 + .4 x $72,000,000 = $136.8 million.
Needem’s equity will be worth $136,800,000- $72,000,000 = $.8 million. Since there are .5 million shares of Needem, each will be worth $129.60.
c.Needem.
9.
The Griffey-Lang Food Company faces a difficult problem. In management’s effort to grow the business, they accrued a debt of $150 million while the value of the company is only $125 million. Management must come up with a plan to alleviate the situation in one year or face certain bankruptcy. Also upcoming are labor relations meetings with the union to discuss employee benefits and pension funds. Griffey-Lang at this time has three choices they can pursue: 1) Launch a new, relatively untested product that if successful (probability of .12) will allow G-L to increase the value of the company to $200 million, 2) Sell off two food production plants in an effort to reduce some of the debt and the value of the company thus making it even (.45 probability of success), or do nothing (probability of failure = 1.0).
a.As a creditor, what would you like Griffey-Lang to do, and why?
b.As an investor?
c.As an employee?
SOLUTION:
a.As a Creditor:
Option 2 best suits the creditor. Option 2 allows the creditor to regain some value through the sale of plant and equipment.
b.As a shareholder:
The shareholders have nothing to lose and everything to gain by taking a big chance with the new product.
c.As an Employee:
Selling off two production plants will eliminate jobs. Doing nothing means certain bankruptcy and may result in liquidation of the firm and the loss of all the jobs. For the employees, the best choice is option 1.
