Suppose you are hired as a consultant forTailways, Inc., just after a recapitalization thatincreased
Question
Suppose you are hired as a consultant forTailways, Inc., just after a recapitalization thatincreased
the firm’s debt-to-assets ratio to 80
percent. The firm has the opportunity to take on a
risk-free project yielding 10 percent, which you
must analyze. You note that the risk-free rate is 8
percent and apply what you learned in Chapter 11
about taking positive net present value projects;
that is, accept those projects that generate
expected returns that exceed the appropriate riskadjusted
discount rate of the project. You
recommend that Tailways take the project.
Unfortunately, your client is not impressed with
your recommendation. Because Tailways is highly
leveraged and is in risk of default, its borrowing
rate is 4 percent greater than the risk-free rate.
After reviewing your recommendation, the
company CEO has asked you to explain how this
“positive net present value project” can make him
money when he is forced to borrow at 12 percent
to fund a project yielding 10 percent. You wonder
how you bungled an assignment as simple as
evaluating a risk-free project. What have you done
wrong?