Question

Aaron Athletics is trying to determine its optimal capital structure. The company’s capital structure consists of debt and common equity. In order to estimate the cost of capital at various debt levels the company has constructed the following table: Percent financed with debt (wD) Percent financed with equity (ws) Before tax cost of debt 0.10 0.90 7.0% 0.20 0.80 7.2% 0.30 0.70 8.0% 0.40 0.60 8.8% 0.50 0.50 9.6% The company uses the CAPM to estimate its cost of equity, rS . The risk-free rate is 4% and the market risk premium is 5%. Aaron estimates that if it had no debt its beta would be 1.0. (It’s unlevered beta equals 1.0). The company’s tax rate is 40%. On the basis of this information, what is the company’s optimal capital structure, and what is the WACC at that capital structure? (Show your calculations at each debt level). Please show all work.

Answer 1