Stephenson Real Estate Company was founded 25 years ago by the current CEO, Robert Stephenson. The company purchases real estate, including land and buildings, and rents the property to tenants. The company has shown a profit every year for the past 18 years, and the shareholders are satisfied with the company’s management. Prior to founding Stephenson Real Estate, Robert was the founder and CEO of a failed alpaca-farming operation. The resulting bankruptcy made him extremely averse to debt financing. As a result, the company is entirely equity financed, with 12 million shares of common stock outstanding. The stock currently trades at $48.50 per share. Robert is evaluating a plan to purchase a huge tract of land in eastern Canada for $45 million. The land will subsequently be leased to tenant farmers. This purchase is expected to increase Stephenson’s annual pre-tax earnings by $11 million in perpetuity. Kim Weyand, the company’s new CFO, has been put in charge of the project. Kim has determined that the company’s current cost of capital is 11.5 percent. She feels that the company would be more valuable if it included debt in its capital structure, so she is evaluating whether the company should issue debt to entirely finance the project. Based on some conversations with investment banks, she thinks that the company can issue bonds at par value with a 7 percent coupon rate. Based on her analysis, she also believes that a capital structure in the range of 70 percent equity/30 percent debt would be optimal. If the company goes beyond 30 percent debt, its bonds will carry a lower rating and a much higher coupon because the possibility of financial distress and the associated costs will rise sharply. Stephenson has a 40 percent corporate tax rate (provincial and federal). 4. Suppose Stephenson decides to issue debt to finance the purchase. a. What will the market value of Stephenson be if the purchase is financed with debt? b. Construct Stephenson’s market value balance sheet after both the debt issue and the land purchase. What is the price per share of the firm’s stock? 5. Which method of financing maximizes the per-share stock price of Stephenson’s equity?
Stephenson Real Estate Company was founded 25 years ago by the current CEO, Robert Stephenson.
The company purchases real estate, including land and buildings, and rents the property to
tenants. The company has shown a profit every year for the past 18 years, and the shareholders
are satisfied with the company’s management. Prior to founding Stephenson Real Estate, Robert
was the founder and CEO of a failed alpaca-farming operation. The resulting bankruptcy made
him extremely averse to debt financing. As a result, the company is entirely equity financed, with
12 million shares of common stock outstanding. The stock currently trades at $48.50 per share.
Robert is evaluating a plan to purchase a huge tract of land in eastern Canada for $45 million.
The land will subsequently be leased to tenant farmers. This purchase is expected to increase Stephenson’s
annual pre-tax earnings by $11 million in perpetuity. Kim Weyand, the company’s new
CFO, has been put in charge of the project. Kim has determined that the company’s current cost
of capital is 11.5 percent. She feels that the company would be more valuable if it included debt in
its capital structure, so she is evaluating whether the company should issue debt to entirely finance
the project. Based on some conversations with investment banks, she thinks that the company can
issue bonds at par value with a 7 percent coupon rate. Based on her analysis, she also believes that a
capital structure in the range of 70 percent equity/30 percent debt would be optimal. If the company
goes beyond 30 percent debt, its bonds will carry a lower rating and a much higher coupon because
the possibility of financial distress and the associated costs will rise sharply. Stephenson has a
40 percent corporate tax rate (provincial and federal).
4. Suppose Stephenson decides to issue debt to finance the purchase.
a. What will the market value of Stephenson be if the purchase is financed with debt?
b. Construct Stephenson’s market value balance sheet after both the debt issue and the land
purchase. What is the price per share of the firm’s stock?
5. Which method of financing maximizes the per-share stock price of Stephenson’s equity?
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