Jane Smith is the Chief Financial Officer for Widget Company Incorporated (Widget). Widget is a new company that will be manufacturing and selling a variety of widgets for the technology industry; these widgets will be transformational in this specific technology space and hence there is significant interest from both equity sponsors and well capitalized lending institutions. Widgets home country, for taxation purposes, has a corporate tax rate of 35.0%. Based on the strategic plan, approved by the Board of Directors of Widget, the capital structure of the firm shall be maintained at 42.5% equity, with the balance consisting of debt. Jane and her team have been very successful in raising $250M of equity over the past few months and now they are ready to commence discussions with debt providers for the balance. A+ Plus Hedge Fund, the firm that is contributing the equity to Widget, has struck terms with the Widget Management team that their equity investment will achieve a 14.5% return over the life of the investment.

c. Based on the Boards recommendations and past experience of the Senior Management Team, the discount rate for Widget has been established at 8.00%. Knowing this information and the financial metrics given above what is the maximum interest rate that Jane can accept during her negotiations with the banks?