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Marriot Corp Case: Cost of Capital

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1. Introduction

MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL, INC. is a leading worldwide hospitality company, with operating units in the United States and 53 other countries and territories. Major businesses include hotels operated and franchised under the Marriott and other International brands, restaurants, and food service distribution. The company headquarters are in Washington, D. C.

The vice president of project finance at Marriott Corporation, prepares recommendations annually for the hurdle rates at each of the firm¡¯s three divisions. In this reflective case, the company¡¯s policies and strategies related with hurdle rates and cost of capital are discussed. In the above context, the company¡¯s policy of repurchasing its shares is also …show more content…

The company would need to raise more debt, because there is not enough money to cover this repurchase solely with its own resources (as it has happened before, as explained earlier in this paper when discussing debt ratios growth). Assuming that all funds needed for this repurchase were raised by debt, Marriott¡¯s debt ratio would raise to 85% ($2,498.8 long-term debt by the end of 1987 plus $1,124, divided by $4,247.8 total capital at the same date). Usually, a company that has a debt rate higher than its optimal, has to pay a higher interest rate due to its elevated risk. Assuming that Marriott is in its optimal debt-rate range in 1987, the repurchase of 30% of its common stock would cause an increase in the company¡¯s cost of debt. Consequently, the cost of capital would reach undesirably high levels, and in the long-term that would cause severe financial problems due to the company¡¯s lack of interest covering ability, and eventually, the company¡¯s bankruptcy.

4. Project¡¯s Evaluation

For hurdle rates calculation purposes, Marriott has determined a beta of 1.11 for the hole company. According to calculations shown in exhibit 4, pondering each division in accordance to its respective sales, each divisions betas result in 1.1935 for lodging, 1.05 for contract services and 1.0389 for restaurants. Marriot should take in account those betas when

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