In the Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) applied to the free cash flow (FCF), we assume that the cost of debt is the market, unsubsidized rate. With debt at the market rate and perfect capital markets, debt only creates value in the presence of taxes through the tax shield. In some cases,...

In this teaching note, we discuss the basic principles for tariff setting. Tariff setting is very important for regulated industries, such as water and power. The tariff should provide an appropriate risk-adjusted return to the investor. If the tariff were too low, then the investors would not...

In the latest edition of Principles of Corporate Finance (Brealey, Myers and Allen, 2006) the authors use a finite cash flow example to illustrate the valuation procedure for using the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) method with the free cash flow (FCF) and the Adjusted Present Value (APV). The two...

Most finance textbooks (See Benninga and Sarig, 1997, Brealey, Myers and Marcus, 1996, Copeland, Koller and Murrin, 1994, Damodaran, 1996, Gallagher and Andrew, 2000, Van Horne, 1998, Weston and Copeland, 1992) present the Weighted Average Cost of Capital WACC calculation as: WACC = d(1-T)D% +...

In this teaching note we show that using the findings of Tham and Velez-Pareja 2002, for finite cash flows, Ke and hence WACC depend on the discount rate that is used to value the tax shield, TS and as expected, Ke and WACC are not constant with Kd as the discount rate for the tax shield, even...

In the recent writings on valuation, there is no consensus about the correct formulas for calculating the relevant cost of capital in an M & M world. The proliferation of alpha number of methods and omega number of theories for the calculation of the cost of capital is puzzling because in the...

Abstract: It is widely known that if the leverage is constant over time, then the after-tax Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) is constant over time. In other words, it is inappropriate to use a constant after-tax WACC to discount the free cash flow (FCF) if the leverage changes over time....

In this teaching note, we present an integrated, consistent market-based framework for valuing finite cash flows. We derive the relevant cash flows from integrated financial statements, and based on Modigliani and Miller's (M & M) theories, we estimate the appropriate cost of capital and value...

Although perpetuities are somewhat artificial in the sense that in practice they do not exist, they are relevant because no matter how detailed and complex a forecasted financial plan for a firm or project could be terminal value usually is calculated as perpetuity. This terminal value might be...

Using no-arbitrage arguments in an M & M world, we show that in the N-period case, the appropriate discount rate for the tax shield is rho, the return to unlevered equity. We make no assumption about the appropriate discount rate for the tax shield. Instead, the appropriate discount rate for the...