Chapter 21, Problem 4MC

David Lyons, CEO of Lyons Solar Technologies, is concerned about his firm’s level of debt financing. The company uses short-term debt to finance its temporary working capital needs, but it does not use any permanent (long-term) debt. Other solar technology companies have debt, and Mr. Lyons wonders why they use debt and what its effects are on stock prices. To gain some insights into the matter, he poses the following questions to you, his recently hired assistant:

d. Suppose that Firms U and L have the same input values as in Part c except for debt of $980,000. Also, both firms have total net operating capital of $2,000,000 and both firms are expected to grow at a constant rate of 7%. (Assume that the EBIT in part c is expected at t = 1.) Use the compressed adjusted present value (APV) model to estimate the value of U and L. Also estimate the levered cost of equity and the weighted average cost of capital.