You are advising ABC Inc. (ABC), a leading US retail company, on how to estimate its cost of capital at the divisional level. You have collected the following information:

• The risk-free rate is 2.5%.
• The market risk premium is 5%.
• You have broken down ABC into two business groups, with revenues, debt-to-equity ratio, before-tax cost of debt, and tax rate for each group.

Business group	Revenues	Debt-to-equity ratio	Before-tax cost of debt	Tax rate
B&M	$10.0 billion	40%	3.5%	40%
Online	$5.0 billion	25%	3.5%	40%

Additionally, you have identified two pure-play firms: Stores Inc. (which owns a large number of physical retail stores in the U.S.) and E-Trade Inc. (which specializes in selling goods online). Stores Inc. is a direct competitor of the B&M division of ABC, whereas E-Trade Inc. competes with the Online division of ABC. You have collected the following information about the two pure-play firms.

Firm	Stores Inc.	E-Trade Inc.
Beta	1	2.5
D/E	30%	20%
Tax rate	25%	20%

a) ABC is considering to open a few more stores to be located across different states in the U.S.. Determine the appropriate discount rate (WACC) ABC should use for evaluating this project.

b) ABC is considering to expand its existing online operations by building a new online platform that would make it easier for customers to shop online. Determine the appropriate discount rate (WACC) ABC should use for evaluating this project.

c) What would happen if ABC uses the WACC of its B&M division to evaluate its online project? Briefly explain how this will affect the NPV analysis and the acceptance/rejection decision for the new online project. No calculations are required.