The board of directors of Baldwin Inc. met today to discuss the capital structure and dividend policy of the company. The board discussed the optimal capital structure of 50 percent debt and 50 percent equity. Management chose this capital structure because they believe that would have the highest firm value. During the meeting it came up that debt provides tax benefits to the firm because interest is tax deductible whereas dividend is not. Therefore, the debt ratio of 50 percent was not supported by some board members. One board member, Gregg wanted the capital structure to be 70% debt and 30% equity because he believes a high debt ratio is beneficial to shareholders. However, Jeff Warren, the CFO of the company, stressed in his presentation to the board that debt can put pressure on the firm because interests and principal payments are fixed obligations that the company must pay, no matter the profit of the company. He stated that if these obligations are not met, the company may risk some sort of financial distress and files for bankruptcy. Jeff continued to explain that if the company files for bankruptcy there are direct and indirect costs that Baldwin must incur.
Mr. Milosvoski, another board member suggested that there are ways to reduce the cost of debt by hiring an expert to handle the company’s debt agreements between the shareholders and bondholders. He stated that protective covenants are incorporated as part of the loan agreement and must be taken seriously because a broken covenant can lead to default. He believed that costs of debt can be reduced with negative covenants and a positive covenant. John Miller, the Investor Relations Officer stated that one reason bankruptcy costs are so high is that different creditors and their lawyers contend with each other. He suggested that if debt can be consolidated, or if bondholders can be allowed to purchase stock of the company bankruptcy cost will be reduced. In this way, stockholders and debtholders are not pitted against each other because they are not separate entities. He cited examples in Japan where large banks generally take significant stock positions in the firms to which they lend money.
The employee representative on the board, Ms. Johnson used the agency costs to explain that when a firm has debt, conflicts of interest arise between stockholders and bondholders. Because of this, stockholders are tempted to pursue selfish strategies. These strategies are costly because they will lower the market value of the firm. Philip Suzuki, director of Marketing and a board member was of the view that determining optimal debt-equity ratio is not an easy task and varies across industries so Baldwin should follow the rules of the pecking-order theory when financing capital projects. No agreement was reached on the company’s capital structure, but the CEO and Jeff believed that the 50-50 debt-equity ratio will minimize the cost of capital and improve the value of the firm.
The board is retaining you as the financial consultant to assist with the company’s capital structure and dividend payout decisions. The Chairman of the board wants you to address the following questions:
List three advantages and two disadvantages of the 70% debt ratio proposed by Gregg.
State five examples of direct costs, indirect costs and agency costs associated with financial distress that Jeff stated in his presentation to the board.
Explain the following cost reduction techniques suggested by Mr. Milosvoski and John Miller.
positive covenant
negative covenant
debt consolidation
Explain the rules of pecking-order theory of capital structure as suggested to the board members by Mr. Suzuki, the director of Marketing. List three implications of the pecking-order theory.
Baldwin Inc. is planned to pay dividends of $3 per share to shareholders in 2020 (total dividend is $3 million). But because of high personal taxes on dividend income, the company postponed the dividend to next 5 years when they believe a new tax legislation will be passed by Congress to give tax exemption on dividend and investment income. Suggest three alternatives to the board of how the available cash can be used in place of the dividend.
Identify four factors that can support high-dividend policy to stockholders of Baldwin?
Baldwin Inc. wants you to help them prepare a dividend policy which will guide the first dividend payout of the company in 2025. List five characteristics of a sensible dividend policy you want the board to know.
Sample Solution
Compelling correspondence is essential to the achievement all things considered but since of the changing idea of the present working environments, successful correspondence turns out to be more troublesome, and because of the numerous impediments that will permit beneficiaries to acknowledge the plan of the sender It is restricted. Misguided judgments.In spite of the fact that correspondence inside the association is rarely completely open, numerous straightforward arrangements can be executed to advance the effect of these hindrances.
Concerning specific contextual analysis, two significant correspondence standards, correspondence channel determination and commotion are self-evident. This course presents the standards of correspondence, the act of general correspondence, and different speculations to all the more likely comprehend the correspondence exchanges experienced in regular daily existence. The standards and practices that you learn in this course give the premise to additionally learning and correspondence.
This course starts with an outline of the correspondence cycle, the method of reasoning and hypothesis. In resulting modules of the course, we will look at explicit use of relational connections in close to home and expert life. These incorporate relational correspondence, bunch correspondence and dynamic, authoritative correspondence in the work environment or relational correspondence. Rule of Business Communication In request to make correspondence viable, it is important to follow a few rules and standards. Seven of them are fundamental and applicable, and these are clear, finished, brief, obliging, right, thought to be, concrete. These standards are frequently called 7C for business correspondence. The subtleties of these correspondence standards are examined underneath: Politeness Principle: When conveying, we should build up a cordial relationship with every individual who sends data to us.
To be inviting and polite is indistinguishable, and politeness requires an insightful and amicable activity against others. Axioms are notable that gracious “pay of graciousness is the main thing to win everything”. Correspondence staff ought to consistently remember this. The accompanying standards may assist with improving courtesy:Preliminary considering correspondence with family All glad families have the mystery of progress. This achievement originates from a strong establishment of closeness and closeness. Indeed, through private correspondence these cozy family connections become all the more intently. Correspondence is the foundation of different affiliations, building solid partners of obedient devotion, improving family way of life, and assisting with accomplishing satisfaction (Gosche, p. 1). In any case, so as to keep up an amicable relationship, a few families experienced tumultuous encounters. Correspondence in the family is an intricate and alluring marvel. Correspondence between families isn’t restricted to single messages between families or verbal correspondence.
It is a unique cycle that oversees force, closeness and limits, cohesiveness and flexibility of route frameworks, and makes pictures, topics, stories, ceremonies, rules, jobs, making implications, making a feeling of family life An intelligent cycle that makes a model. This model has passed ages. Notwithstanding the view as a family and family automatic framework, one of the greatest exploration establishments in between family correspondence centers around a family correspondence model. Family correspondence model (FCP) hypothesis clarifies why families impart in their own specific manner dependent on one another ‘s psychological direction. Early FCP research established in media research is keen on how families handle broad communications data. Family correspondence was perceived as an exceptional scholastic exploration field by the National Communications Association in 1989. Family correspondence researchers were at first impacted by family research, social brain science, and relational hypothesis, before long built up the hypothesis and began research in a family framework zeroed in on a significant job. Until 2001, the primary issue of the Family Communication Research Journal, Family Communication Magazine, was given. Family correspondence is more than the field of correspondence analysts in the family. Examination on family correspondence is normally done by individuals in brain science, humanism, and family research, to give some examples models. However, as the popular family correspondence researcher Leslie Baxter stated, it is the focal point of this intelligent semantic creation measure making the grant of family correspondence special. In the field of in-home correspondence, correspondence is normally not founded on autonomous messages from one sender to one beneficiary, yet dependent on the dynamic interdependency of data shared among families It is conceptualized. The focal point of this methodology is on the shared trait of semantic development inside family frameworks. As such, producing doesn’t happen in vacuum, however it happens in a wide scope of ages and social exchange.
Standards are rules end up being followed when performing work to agree to a given objective. Hierarchical achievement relies significantly upon compelling correspondence. So as to successfully impart, it is important to follow a few standards and rules. Coming up next are rules to guarantee powerful correspondence: clearness: lucidity of data is a significant guideline of correspondence. For beneficiaries to know the message plainly, the messages ought to be sorted out in a basic language. To guarantee that beneficiaries can without much of a stretch comprehend the importance of the message, the sender needs to impart unmistakably and unhesitatingly so the beneficiary can plainly and unquestionably comprehend the data.>