A firm has zero debt in its capital structure. Its unlevered cost of capital is 9%. The firm is considering a new capital structure with 40% debt. The interest rate on the debt would be 4%. Assuming that the corporate tax rate is 34%, its cost of levered equity with the new capital structure would be?

Given:

Weighted average cost of capital (WACC) = 9%

Debt in capital structure = 40%

Interest on debt = 4%

Corporate tax rate = 34%

Find:

Cost of Equity:

Computation:

WACC = [Debt in capital structure × Interest on Debt (1-Corporate tax rate)] + [Cost of Equity × (1 - Debt in capital structure)]

9% = [ 40% × 4% (1-34%) ] + [Cost of Equity × (1 - 40%)]

0.09 = [ 0.40 × 0.04 (0.66) ] + [Cost of Equity × (0.60)]

0.09 = [ 0.01056 ] + [Cost of Equity × (0.60)]

0.07944 = [Cost of Equity × (0.60)]

Cost of Equity = 0.1324

Cost of Equity = 13.24% (Approx)

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