5.3. Calculating the value of the company using the free cash flow
In order to calculate the value of the company using this method, the free cash flows are discounted
(restated) using the weighted average cost of debt and equity or weighted average cost of capital (WACC):
E + D = present value [FCF; WACC] where WACC =
E Ke + D Kd (1- T)
E + D
D = market value of the debt. E = market value of the equity
Kd = cost of the debt before tax = required return to debt. T = tax rate
Ke = required return to equity, which reflects the equity’s risk
The WACC is calculated by weighting the cost of the debt (Kd) and the cost of the equity (Ke) with
respect to the company’s financial structure. This is the appropriate rate for this case as, since we are valuing the
company as a whole (debt plus equity), we must consider the required return to debt and the required return to
equity in the proportion to which they finance the company.
5.4. Calculating the value of the company as the unlevered value plus the value of the tax shield
In this method, the company’s value is calculated by adding two values: on the one hand, the value of
the company assuming that the company has no debt and, on the other hand, the value of the tax shield obtained
by the fact that the company is financed with debt.
The value of the company without debt is obtained by discounting the free cash flow, using the rate of
required return to equity that would be applicable to the company if it were to be considered as having no debt.
This rate (Ku) is known as the unlevered rate or required return to assets. The required return to assets is smaller
than the required return to equity if the company has debt in its capital structure as, in this case, the shareholders
would bear the financial risk implied by the existence of debt and would demand a higher equity risk premium.
In those cases where there is no debt, the required return to equity (Ke = Ku) is equivalent to the weighted
average cost of capital (WACC), as the only source of financing being used is capital.