Assume the following financial data for Noble Corporation and Barnes Enterprises:

a. If all the shares of the Noble Corporation are exchanged for those of Barnes Enterprises on a share-for-share basis, what will post merger earnings per share be for Barnes Enterprises?
b. Explain why the earnings per share of Barnes Enterprises changed.
c. Can we necessarily assume that Barnes Enterprises is better off after themerger?

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Noble Barnes Corporation Enterprises Total earnings Number of shares of stock outstanding Earnings per share Price-earnings ratio (P/E) Market price per share S1,200,000 S3,600,000 600,000 2,400,000 $1.50 32x S48 S2.00 24x S48