Question

The weighted average cost of capital is invariant to the use of leverage under MM conditions of no taxes. Graph the relationship of the weighted average cost of capital and leverage; be sure to include the cost of equity and debt. Explain why this relationship holds. (40%)

Answer 1

The Modigliani and Miller approach to capital theory, devised in the 1950s, advocates the capital structure irrelevancy theory. This suggests that the valuation of a firm is irrelevant to the capital structure of a company. Whether a firm is highly leveraged or has a lower debt component has no bearing on its market value. Rather, the market value of a firm is solely dependent on the operating profits of the company.

It has the following assumptions

• There are no taxes.
• Transaction cost for buying and selling securities, as well as the bankruptcy cost, is nil.
• There is a symmetry of information.
• There is no floatation costs
• No tax dividend

The Modigliani and Miller Approach indicates that the value of a leveraged firm (a firm that has a mix of debt and equity) is the same as the value of an unleveraged firm (a firm that is wholly financed by equity) if the operating profits and future prospects are same.

With the assumptions of “no taxes”, the capital structure does not influence the valuation of a firm. In other words, leveraging the company does not increase the market value of the company.

It says that financial leverage is in direct proportion to the cost of equity. With an increase in the debt component, the equity shareholders perceive a higher risk to the company. Hence, in return, the shareholders expect a higher return, thereby increasing the cost of equity. A key distinction here is that Proposition 2 assumes that debt shareholders have the upper hand as far as the claim on earnings is concerned. Thus, the cost of debt reduces.