Kerr-Mcgee Essay

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1. From the reading material, we find there were altogether 6 chemical companies that produce sodium chlorates (Hooker, Pennwalt, American, Kerr-McGee, Brunswick and Southern). However, since we are evaluating the addition of a sodium chlorate plant, the two firms (Brunswick and Southern) who specialize in producing sodium chlorate are likely the best “twins”. To determine the asset betas of each company, we need to debt and equity. Here we just use the average number (from year 1977-1978) of debt and equity of each company to calculate it. Since the beta for debt is 0, by plugging these into the unlevering beta calculation of E/(D+E) * β E giving the asset beta column in the following two tables. Taking simple average of asset betas giving the number of 0.91. Brunswick Chemical (βE =1.10) 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 Avg ('75-'79) D/(D+E) 0.19 0.15 0.17 E/(D+E) 0.81 0.85 0.83 βU =βE * E/(D+E) + βD * D/(D+E) 0.891 0.935 0.913 D/(D+E) E/(D+E) Southern Chemicals(βE =1.20) 1974 1975 1976 1977 0.28 0.72 0.846 1978 0.21 0.79 0.948 Avg ('75-'79) 0.25 0.76 0.906 βU =βE * E/(D+E) + βD * D/(D+E) Then we need to calculate the appropriate discount rate using CAPM model. Given the risk premium of 6% and risk free rate of 9.5%, we get the discount rate (Opportunity cost of capital of the project) which is 8.5%+0.91*6%=14.96%. Calculate the net present value of the Collinsville plant without the laminate technology. Remember that the transaction takes place at the end of 1979. To calculate the net present value of the Collinsville plant we should analyze all the cash flows it will generate in the next 10 years. We need a few assumptions: a. According to this case, we assume the sales from 1985-1989 will remain at the level of 38,000 tons and the growth rate of Avg. price/ton for sodium chlorate is 8%. b. The power cost will grow at a rate of 12% through 1989. The

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