384 Chapter 18 Alternative Financing Arrangements & Corporate Restructuring
24. Preferred stockholders have priority over common stockholders with respect to earnings.
Dividends must be paid on preferred stock before they can be paid on common stock. In
exchange for this priority to dividends, preferred stockholders give up their priority claims to
common stockholders in the event of bankruptcy.
25. Preferred stock can provide a financing alternative for some firms when market conditions are
such that those firms can neither issue pure debt or common stock at reasonable cost.
26. Assume that a piece of leased equipment has a high rather than a low residual value. From the
lessee’s viewpoint, it might be better to own the asset than to lease it because with a high residual
value the lessee will likely face a higher lease rate.
27. If a petrochemical firm merged with an oil producer which had assets including oil reserves, a
refinery, and a drilling subsidiary, this would be an example of a vertical merger.
28. The purchase of assets at below their replacement cost and tax considerations are two factors that
have stimulated mergers historically.
29. Since managers’ central goal is to maximize stock price, any merger offer which provides
stockholders with significant gains over the current stock price will not be opposed by incumbent
management.
30. One of the main reasons why foreign firms are interested in buying U.S. companies is to gain
entrance to the U.S. market. A decline in the value of the dollar relative to most foreign
currencies makes this competitive strategy more feasible.
31. If we have two identical call options with different strike prices, the option with higher strike
price will have a higher price.
32. If we have two identical put options with different exercise prices, the put option with the higher
exercise price will have a higher price.
33. Managers often claim that diversification helps to stabilize the firm’s earnings and thus reduces
corporate risk.
34. Refunding decisions actually involve two separate questions: (1) Is it profitable to call an
outstanding issue in the current period and replace it with a new issue; and (2) even if refunding is
profitable now, would it be more profitable later?