Evaluating Beta of a Corporation

Question

Baldwin Corporation is planning to expand into the business of providing on-demand movies. Baldwin has debt-to-equity ratio of .25, its pretax cost of debt is 9%, and its marginal tax rate is 40%. The Harrington Corporation is already in the on-demand movie business, has a beta of 1.5, debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, and marginal tax rate of 25%. What beta should Baldwin use in evaluating this project? What is the required return on the project if the riskless rate is 5% and the expected return on the market is 10%?

Answer 1

From the given details,
Harrington’s unlevered beta can be determined as
Bu = BL/(1 + (1 – T)(D/E)) = 1.5/(1 + (1 – 0.25)(0.35) = 1.5/1.2625 = 1.188
Hence with a D/E ratio of 0.25,
BL = BU (1 + (1 – T)(D/E)) = 1.188 (1 + (1 – 0.4)(0.25)) = 1.366
Cost of equity = 5% + 1.366*(10% - 5%) = 11.832%
Cost of debt = 9%*(1 – 0.40) = 5.4%
WACC = 0.8*11.832% + 0.2*5.4% = 10.55%

Thus beta is 1.366 and the required rate of return is 10.55%