In: Finance
Your firm is considering issuing one-year debt, and has come up with the following estimates of the value of the interest tax shield and the probability of distress for different levels of debt:
| 
 Debt Level (in $ million)  | 
|||||||
| 
 0  | 
 40  | 
 50  | 
 60  | 
 70  | 
 80  | 
 90  | 
|
| 
 PV (interest tax shield, $ million)  | 
 0.00  | 
 0.76  | 
 0.95  | 
 1.14  | 
 1.33  | 
 1.52  | 
 1.71  | 
| 
 Probability of Financial Distress  | 
 0%  | 
 0%  | 
 1%  | 
 2%  | 
 7%  | 
 16%  | 
 31%  | 
Suppose the firm has a beta of zero, so that the appropriate discount rate for financial distress costs is the risk-free rate of 5%. Which level of debt above is optimal if, in the event of distress, the firm will have distress costs equal to
a. $2 million?
b. $5 million?
c. $30 million?