CIMA F3 Exam With Confidence Using Practice Dumps

Advantages of a debt-funded cash offer vs a share exchange:

A. Shareholder control will remain with AB’s current shareholders.

B. More of the synergistic benefits will accrue to AB’s current shareholders.

D. EPS will increase (no dilution of equity; if synergies materialise, earnings are spread over the same number of shares).

Answer: A, B, D

CIMA F3 examines acquisition financing choices under Financial Policy Decisions and Mergers and Acquisitions, with a particular focus on how cash offers versus share exchanges affect shareholder wealth, control, gearing and earnings. The key issue from the perspective of Company AB’s shareholders is whether the method of financing enhances shareholder value without undermining the firm’s optimal capital structure.

A debt-funded cash offer involves Company AB raising debt to pay cash to the shareholders of Company DC. In contrast, a share exchange issues new equity, diluting existing ownership.

Option A is an advantage.

CIMA F3 highlights that a cash offer allows existing shareholders to retain control, because no new shares are issued. With a share exchange, ownership and voting power are diluted as DC’s shareholders become part-owners of the combined company.

Option B is an advantage.

Under a cash offer, all future synergies accrue to AB’s existing shareholders. F3 explains that with a share exchange, synergy benefits are shared with the target’s shareholders through their new equity stake. Therefore, a debt-funded cash offer concentrates the upside of synergies with the acquirer’s shareholders.

Option D is an advantage.

CIMA F3 notes that debt financing can lead to EPS growth, provided the return on the acquisition exceeds the cost of debt. Because no new equity is issued, earnings are spread over the same number of shares, and financial gearing magnifies returns to equity holders.

The remaining options are not advantages:

C (Gearing will increase) is a consequence, not an advantage. Since AB is already at its optimum capital structure, higher gearing increases financial risk.

E is incorrect; increasing WACC would reduce shareholder value, not enhance it.

Director A – You can issue bonds without having listed equity, but a “public issue” of bonds still involves heavy regulation and doesn’t remove the need for disclosure. This is not what the question is really getting at → treat as not correct.

Director B – AIM still has regulatory requirements; they are lighter, not non-existent → incorrect.

Director C – Rights issues are for existing shareholders of (normally) listed companies; an unlisted company cannot raise unlimited equity this way → incorrect.

Director D – Listing improves marketability and visibility and generally increases the ability to raise both equity and debt → correct.

Director E – Listed status makes shares more easily tradable and the company more visible, so it becomes a more likely takeover target → correct.

Answer: D and E.

The company needs to raise $40 million via a rights issue.

Current share price = $10

Rights issue at a 20% discount, so issue price =

10×(1−0.20)=10×0.8=$810 \times (1 - 0.20) = 10 \times 0.8 = \$810×(1−0.20)=10×0.8=$8

Number of new shares needed:

New shares=40m8=5 million shares\text{New shares} = \frac{40\text{m}}{8} = 5\text{ million shares}New shares=840m​=5 million shares

There are currently 20 million shares in issue, so the rights issue ratio is:

New sharesExisting shares=520=14\frac{\text{New shares}}{\text{Existing shares}} = \frac{5}{20} = \frac{1}{4}Existing sharesNew shares​=205​=41​

So, shareholders will receive 1 new share for every 4 existing shares.