The Montmagny Company and the Shawinigan Company are identical in every respect except that Montmagny is not levered. Financial information for the two firms appears in the following table. All earnings streams are perpetuities, and neither firm pays taxes. Both firms distribute all earnings available to common shareholders immediately.

a. An investor who can borrow at 6 percent per year wishes to purchase 5 percent of Shawinigan’s equity. Can he increase his dollar return by purchasing 5 percent of Montmagny’s equity if he borrows so that the initial net costs of the strategies are the same?

b. Given the two investment strategies in (a), which will investors choose? When will this process cease?

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Montmagny $ 500,000 Shawinigan $ 500,000 $ 78,000 Projected operating income Year-end interest on debt Market value of stock Market value of debt $3,100,000 $2,050,000 $1,300,000