The 2018 tax law changes are apparently having an impact on how companies are financing their assets. There is a WSJ article attached that provides background and examples of how some companies are dealing with the tax law changes.
Pick a firm you are interested in (or one where you can find some data) and see research the internet for news on the capital structure for the firm. The WSJ attached article (link is also provided at the end of the article) highlights what several companies have done and why. Basically, I want you to add to the body of examples.
Which company did you choose? What was the change to the capital structure (going out for more debt, paying off debt, shifting debt to overseas subsidiaries…..)? What reasons did the firm state for the change, if any? Once you find the news article, go to the company’s website and look for press releases from about that time, is there any explanation given for the firm’s activities in the capital market?
Use details on the company’s possible strategy behind the activity and try to backup your assumptions related to the underlying thinking. For example, you go to the XYZ Co. website and find a press release that indicates the firm decided to have their foreign subsidiary go for the debt, which means the interest payments would be paid by an overseas subsidiary, not affecting the total amount of interest paid by the US home firm. Alternatively, you might go to the firm’s 2018 10K and look at how the total interest amount relates to the firm’s EBITDA (see the WSJ article for what this means and why it is important). You need to have some support for your presumed “thinking behind the company decision”.
(250 words per question)