Question: Cargill's Cost of Capital. Cargill is generally considered to be the largest privately held company in the world. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the company has been averaging sales of over $113 billion per year over the past five-year period. Although the company does not have publicly traded shares, it is still extremely important for it to calculate its weighted average cost of capital properly in order to make rational decisions on new investment proposals. Refer to the table at the at the top right. Assuming a risk-free rate of 4.50%, an effective tax rate of 48%, and a market risk premium of 5.50%, estimate the weighted average cost of capital first for companies A and B, and then make a "guesstimate" of what you believe a comparable WACC would be for Cargill.
