McCormick & Company is considering a project that requires an initial investment of $24 million to build a new plant and purchase equipment. The investment will be depreciated as a modified accelerated cost recovery system (MACRS) seven-year class asset. The new plant will be built on some of the company's land, which has a current, after-tax market value of $4.3 million. The company will produce bulk units at a cost of $130 each and will sell them for $420 each. There are annual fixed costs of $500 thousand. Unit sales are expected to be $150,000 each year for the next six years, at which time the project will be abandoned. At that time, the plant and equipment is expected to be worth $8 million (before tax) and the land is expected to be worth $5.4 million (after tax). To supplement the production process, the company will need to purchase $1 million worth of inventory. That inventory will be depleted during the final year of the project. The company has $100 million of debt outstanding with a yield to maturity of 8 percent, and has $150 million of equity outstanding with a beta of 0.9. The expected market return is 13 percent, and the risk-free rate is 5 percent. The company's marginal tax rate is 40 percent.

6. Create an after-tax cash flow timeline.

7. What are the total expected cash flows at the end of year six? The $4.3 million is an opportunity cost and must be included at date 0 as a cash outflow. If the project is accepted, however, the land can be sold in six years for $5.4 million.

8. Find the NPV using the after-tax WACC as the discount rate.

9. Find the IRR.

10. Should the project be accepted? Discuss whether NPV or IRR creates the best decision rule.