Answered step by step
Verified Expert Solution
Link Copied!

Question

1 Approved Answer

Blue Ladybug Media Company, a social networking company, has seen triple-digit growth in its websites registrations over the past two years. Most of the websites

Blue Ladybug Media Company, a social networking company, has seen triple-digit growth in its websites registrations over the past two years. Most of the websites subscribers live outside the United States, and the company is seeing a significant increase in the number of users from Brazil. As a result, Blue Ladybug is considering opening a marketing office in Brazil to expand its marketing efforts there. Management, however, is not sure if the Brazilian expansion via the opening of a subsidiary office will necessarily help the company grow and increase its value. Managements uncertainty is the result of the possibility that Brazils Internet connectivity will be insufficient to support all of Blue Ladybugs forecasted growth.

One of Blue Ladybugs employees, Natalia, who is originally from Brazil, conducted some preliminary market research and submitted the following details about the potential five-year project:

Opening the new marketing office in Brazil will require an initial investment of $5.00 million.
According to research on Brazils mobile technology infrastructure, Natalia noted there is a 60% probability that the countrys mobile connectivity will be sufficient to generate additional advertising cash flows of $7.50 million per year for the company for the next five years.
Alternatively, there is a 40% chance that Brazils mobile Internet connectivity will be insufficient to support Blue Ladybugs desired growth in Brazil. In this case, the company expects to generate additional net advertising-related annual cash flows of only $2.50 million for the next five years.
The projects expected cost of capital is 13.00%, and the risk-free rate is 4%. The projects WACC should be used to discount all cash flows.

After further research, Natalia added a few more details to her proposal:

If Brazils Internet connectivity is good, then at the end of Year 3, Blue Ladybug should consider investing $3.75 million to purchase an existing Brazilian marketing firm and creating a new subsidiary.
The new subsidiary is expected to generate $3.00 million of additional annual cash flows in years 4 and year 5.
However, if the Internet connectivity in Brazil is inadequate to support Blue Ladybugs desired customer growth, then the company will not invest the additional funds in year 3 or earn the expected additional advertising-related cash flows.

Based on Natalias additional information, use the decision tree analysis to calculate the NPV of the project including the growth option. Then, calculate the value of the Natalia wants to use the the BlackScholes option pricing model (OPM) to determine the value of the growth option. To do this, she has collected and computed the values for several additional variables, and has given you the Black-Scholes OPM equation for the valuation of an option (V):

V=(P N(d1))(X erRFt N(d2)),V=P Nd1X erRFt Nd2,

where

P = the current, or a proxy, price of the value of the underlying asset (P)which equals the present value of the delayed projects forecasted future cash flows
N(d1)Nd1 and N(d2)Nd2 = estimates of the variance of the projects expected return
X = the options strike price, which is the cost of purchasing the Brazilian firm that will become the Blue Ladybugs subsidiary
e = the mathematical constant equal to 2.718281828459045235360..., which can be truncated and rounded to 2.7183
rRFrRF = the markets risk-free rate
t = the time until the option expires, which, in this situation, is assumed to be the end of third year, when the potential purchase of the subsidiary would take place

1. According to Natalia, these variables should assume the following values. Please find the values with question marks in the box.

Variable

Value

Projects cost of capital 13.00%
Current value of the delayed investment (P) ?
N(d), as estimated by Natalia 0.7573
N(d), as estimated by Natalia 0.7082
Delayed investments strike price (X) ?
Mathematical constant e 2.7183
Risk-free rate (rRFrRF) 0.04
Time until the option expires (t) ?

2. Given these values, the estimated value of Blue Ladybugs growth option using the Black-Scholes OPM (V) is what? (Note: Round all calculations to two decimal places.)

Step by Step Solution

There are 3 Steps involved in it

Step: 1

blur-text-image

Get Instant Access to Expert-Tailored Solutions

See step-by-step solutions with expert insights and AI powered tools for academic success

Step: 2

blur-text-image

Step: 3

blur-text-image

Ace Your Homework with AI

Get the answers you need in no time with our AI-driven, step-by-step assistance

Get Started

Recommended Textbook for

AQA AS Accounting Unit 2 Financial And Management Accounting

Authors: Brendan Casey

1st Edition

1500684260?, 978-1500684266

More Books

Students also viewed these Finance questions