Kennesaw Steel Corporation
As Chief Financial Officer of the Kennesaw Steel Corporation (KSC), you are considering a recapitalization plan that would convert KSC from its current all-equity capital structure to one including substantial financial leverage. KSC now has 100,000 shares of common stock outstanding, which are selling for $50.00 each, and the recapitalization proposal is to issue $2,000,000 worth of long-term debt at an interest rate of 8.0 percent and use the proceeds to repurchase $2,000,000 of common stock.
-Refer to Kennesaw Steel Corporation.The tax rate is 40%.At what level of EBIT will earnings per share be equal for shareholders under each capital structure? (assume that the stock can be repurchased at $50 per share)

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Before re-capitalization:
Equity = $50 * 100,000 = $5,000,000 (# of shares = 100,000)
After:
Equity = $5,000,000 - $2,000,000 = $3,000,000
Debt = $2,000,000; Interest Paid = $2,000,000*.08 = $160,000
# of shares = $3,000,000 / $50 = 60,000
BREAKEVEN = ($X - $0)* (1-.4)/ 100,000 = ($X - $160,000)* (1-.4)/ 75,000
X = $400,000

Kennesaw Steel Corporation As Chief Financial Officer of the Kennesaw Steel Corporation (KSC)