Hartford Mining has 90 million shares that are currently trading for $2 per share and $160 million worth of debt. The debt is risk free and has an interest rate of 4%, and the expected return of Hartford stock is 11%. Suppose a mining strike causes the price of Hartford stock to fall 25% to $1.50 per share. The value of the risk-free debt is unchanged. Assuming there are no taxes and the risk (unlevered beta) of Hartford’s assets is unchanged, what happens to Hartford’s equity cost of capital?

1. Hartford Mining has 90 million shares that are currently trading for $2 per share and $160 million worth of debt. The debt is risk free and has an interest rate of 4%, and the expected return of Hartford stock is 11%. Suppose a mining strike causes the price of Hartford stock to fall 25% to $1.50 per share. The value of the risk-free debt is unchanged. Assuming there are no taxes and the risk (unlevered beta) of Hartford’s assets is unchanged, what happens to Hartford’s equity cost of capital?

2. Hubbard Industries is an all-equity firm whose shares have an expected return of 10.9%. Hubbard does a leveraged recapitalization by issuing debt and repurchasing stock until its debt-equity ratio is 0.66. Due to the increased risk, shareholders now expect a return of 17.1%. Assuming there are no taxes and Hubbard’s debt is risk-free, what is the interest rate on the debt?

3. Global Pistons (GP) has common stock with a market value of $470 million and debt with a value of $299 million. Investors expect a 13% return on the stock and a 5% return on the debt. Assume perfect capital markets.
   1. Suppose GP issues $299 million of new stock to buy back the debt. What is the expected return of the stock after this transaction?
   2. Suppose instead GP issues $71 million of new debt to repurchase stock.
4. If the risk of the debt does not change, what is the expected return of the stock after this transaction?
5. If the risk of the debt increases, would the expected return of the stock be higher or lower than in part (i)?

4. Suppose Alpha Industries and Omega Technology have identical assets that generate identical cash flows. Alpha Industries is an all-equity firm, with 14 million shares outstanding that trade for a price of $24 per share. Omega Technology has 22 million shares outstanding as well as debt of $100 million.
   1. According to MM Proposition I, what is the stock price for Omega Technology?
   2. Suppose Omega Technology stock currently trades for $15 per share. What arbitrage opportunity is available? What assumptions are necessary to exploit this opportunity?

5. Wolfrum Technology (WT) has no debt. Its assets will be worth $444 million in one year if the economy is strong, but only $226 million in one year if the economy is weak. Both events are equally likely. The market value today of its assets is $257 million.
   1. What is the expected return of WT stock without leverage?
   2. Suppose the risk-free interest rate is 5%. If WT borrows $52 million today at this rate and uses the proceeds to buy back its equity, what will be the market value of its equity just after this transaction, according to MM?
   3. What is the expected return of WT stock after the transaction in part (b)?