Careco Company and Audaco Inc are identical in size and capital structure. However, the riskiness of their assets and cash flows are somewhat different, resulting in Careco having a WACC of 10% and Audaco a WACC of 12%. Careco is considering Project X, which has an IRR of 10.5% and is of the same risk as a typical Careco project. Audaco is considering Project Y, which has an IRR of 11.5% and is of the same risk as a typical Audaco project. Now assume that the two companies merge and form a new company, Careco/Audaco Inc. Moreover, the new company's market risk is an average of the pre-merger companies' market risks, and the merger has no impact on either the cash flows or the risks of Projects X and Y. Which of the following statements is correct? A) if evaluated using the correct post-merger wacc, project x would have a negative npv.
B) after the merger, careco/audaco would have a corporate wacc of 11%. therefore, it should reject project x but accept project y.
C) careco/audaco's wacc, as a result of the merger, would be 10%.
D) after the merger, careco/audaco should select project y but reject project x. if the firm does this, its corporate wacc will fall to 10.5%.
E) if the firm evaluates these projects and all other projects at the new overall corporate wacc, it will probably become riskier over time.