BNFN 4304 – Financial Policy
Mr. Masood Aijazi
Case 33: California Pizza Kitchen
Spring Semester 2017 – 2018
Written By
Maryam Barifah 1420023
Nour Abdulaziz 1420149
Shrouq Al-Jaaidi 1420072
Balqees Mekhlafi 1420231
Submission Date
22/03/2018
CASE 33
CALIFORNIA PIZZA KITCHEN
Guidance Sheet
Synopsis and Objectives
This case examines the question of financial leverage at California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) in July 2007. With a highly profitable business and an aversion to debt, CPK management is considering a debt-financed stock buyback program. The case is intended to provide an introduction to the Modigliani-Miller capital structure irrelevance propositions and the concept of debt tax shields. With the background of a pizza company, the case provides an engaging context to discuss the “pizza graphs” that are commonly used in corporate finance curriculum to illustrate the wealth effects of capital structure decisions.
The case serves to motivate the following learning objectives:
· Introduce the Modigliani-Miller intuition of capital structure irrelevance;
· Establish how the cost of equity is affected by capital structure decisions by defining financial risk and introducing the levered-beta capital asset pricing model (CAPM) equation;
· Discuss interest tax deductibility and the valuation tax shields;
· Explore the importance of debt capacity in a growing business.
Questions
1. What is going on at CPK? What decisions does Susan Collyns face? In what ways can she facilitate the success of CPK? What do you recommend?
1. Using the scenarios in case Exhibit 9, what role does leverage play in affecting the return on equity (ROE) for CPK?
1. Is the capital structure decisions relevant for maximizing the shareholders’ value? What is the ratio of debt-to-equity that maximizes the shareholder’s value? Why should the stockholders care about maximizing firm value? Shouldn’t they be interested in strategies that maximize shareholder value only?
What are the key drivers for increasing value of CPK how it affects its capital providers i.e. shareholders and creditors.
1. How does debt add value to CPK?
1. What is the case for not doing the recapitalization?