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Feb 20, 2024

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Deluxe corporation Executive summary KIRAN NAGARATNAM SKAND MITTAL
Frame the Key Issues and Decisions Deluxe Corporation is the largest printer of paper cheques in the United States. Their core business has been experiencing a decline in sales revenue due to the growing maturity of the market for paper cheques in the United States coupled with a shift towards electronic forms of payments such as ATMs, credit cards, debit cards, and the Internet bill-paying systems. Taking on the role of Rajat Singh, the goal is to recommend an optimal capital structure for the corporation that will maximize shareholder value and aid in their share repurchasing attempts through a reliable WACC estimate. This recommendation must also factor in flexibility, bond rating, value creation, and Deluxe low costs, and continued access to capital. Recommending a financial policy that balances these goals is crucial to the financial sustainability of the firm. Alternatives When computing the firm’s WACC, there are two viable alternatives to consider. The first alternative is to compute WACC using Bancorp’s estimates for Deluxe and the second a lternative is to estimate the cost of equity using CAPM which will then replace Bancorp ’s cost of equity estimate in the WACC computation. The debt ratios will be adjusted accordingly in each of the various scenarios. Under each alternative, the key elements of WACC must be scrutinized for their reliability and accuracy as the final WACC estimate plays a crucial role in determining the amount of debt to an issue, what grade of investment to maintain, and the final recommendation of the financial policy. Another set of alternatives to consider is whether to issue long-term financing or short-term financing. Some key considerations include their abilities to meet short-term debt obligations, the amount of access to short-term capital, and the cost of financing under both alternatives. This alternative will play an imperative role in Deluxe’s capital structure, WACC computation, and financial policy. Qualitative One of the main concerns for Rajat and the board of directors is optimizing the capital structure while retaining the current bond ratings while still managing to lower the cost of capital. According to the CEO, a good bond rating will not only save the interest payments but will also define D eluxe’s brand value. Bond ratings are currently evaluated by third party rating agencies (Standard and Poor, M oody’s in case of deluxe). This rating helps investors to understand a company’s liquidity position. Deluxe currently has an investment-grade bond rating of A. The financial team is looking to stay in this slot while maximizing the debt capacity to fund the working capital needs as the company is looking to make changes in its business model. What this essentially means is raising capital through debt to the point where the debt rating goes to BBB. This would ensure that the company still stays in an investment-grade bond slot. According to the projections performed by the analyst (exhibit 4), the sales are expected to grow annually by 0.2% due to the structural changes done recently by laying off employees and saving on fixed costs. This growth fuels working capital growth for the future. One of the other concerns is to avoid the debt overhang problem. Deluxe has a debt to value ratio of 33.97% which is in line with its brand value. Quantitative To fund its operations, Deluxe needs a total debt capacity of 960 million. This is calculated by dividing the interest implied of $55 million by the pre-tax cost of debt at the current A bond rating. The implied interest is calculated by dividing the expected EBIT by the target EBIT interest coverage. The required debt can be obtained by one of the two alternatives, short term or long- term financing. Talking about the short-term financing options, Deluxe corporation has used a mix of commercial paper and line of credit to fund its operations in the past. However, short financing
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