QUESTION

The Managing Director of your firm is thinking aloud about an appropriate gearing level for the company:

"The consultants I spoke to yesterday explained that some theorists advance the idea that, if your objective is the maximization of shareholder wealth, then the debt to equity ratio does not matter. However, they did comment that this conclusion holds in a world of no taxes. Even more strangely, these theorists argue that in a world with tax, it is best to ‘gear-up' a company as high as possible. Now I may not know much about theories but I do know that there are limits to the debt level which is desirable. After listening to these consultants, I am more confused than ever."

Required:

Write a report for the managing director both outlining the theoretical arguments and explaining the real-world influences on the gearing levels of firms.