Golden Gate Construction Associates, a real estate developer and building contractor in San Francisco, has two sources of long-term capital: debt and equity. The cost to Golden Gate of issuing debt is the after-tax cost of the interest payments on the debt, taking into account the fact that the interest payments are tax deductible. The cost of Golden Gate’s equity capital is the investment opportunity rate of Golden Gate’s investors, that is, the rate they could earn on investments of similar risk to that of investing in Golden Gate Construction Associates. The interest rate on Golden Gate’s $60 million of long-term debt is 10 percent, and the company’s tax rate is 40 percent. The cost of Golden Gate’s equity capital is 15 percent. Moreover, the market value (and book value) of Golden Gate’s equity is $90 million. Required: Calculate Golden Gate Construction Associates’ weighted-average cost of capital.
Cost of Capital
Shareholders and investors who invest into the capital of the firm desire to have a suitable return on their investment funding. The cost of capital reflects what shareholders expect. It is a discount rate for converting expected cash flow into present cash flow.
Capital Structure
Capital structure is the combination of debt and equity employed by an organization in order to take care of its operations. It is an important concept in corporate finance and is expressed in the form of a debt-equity ratio.
Weighted Average Cost of Capital
The Weighted Average Cost of Capital is a tool used for calculating the cost of capital for a firm wherein proportional weightage is assigned to each category of capital. It can also be defined as the average amount that a firm needs to pay its stakeholders and for its security to finance the assets. The most commonly used sources of capital include common stocks, bonds, long-term debts, etc. The increase in weighted average cost of capital is an indicator of a decrease in the valuation of a firm and an increase in its risk.
Golden Gate Construction Associates, a real estate developer and building contractor in San Francisco, has two sources of long-term capital: debt and equity. The cost to Golden Gate of issuing debt is the after-tax cost of the interest payments on the debt, taking into account the fact that the interest payments are tax deductible. The cost of Golden Gate’s equity capital is the investment opportunity rate of Golden Gate’s investors, that is, the rate they could earn on investments of similar risk to that of investing in Golden Gate Construction Associates. The interest rate on Golden Gate’s $60 million of long-term debt is 10 percent, and the company’s tax rate is 40 percent. The cost of Golden Gate’s equity capital is 15 percent. Moreover, the market value (and book value) of Golden Gate’s equity is $90 million.
Required: Calculate Golden Gate Construction Associates’ weighted-average cost of capital.
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