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Adjusted present value

Value the business as if all-equity, then add the financing benefit separately: V_u = FCF₁ / (k_u − g) plus PV(tax shield) = T·D gives APV = V_u + PV(shield). The shield is the tax saved on deductible interest. More debt means a larger shield, so long as you ignore distress costs.

Adjusted present value (APV)$148.3m
$133.3mshield 10% of APVUnlevered value V_uPV(tax shield)← these two stack to APV $148.3m
Unlevered value V_u $133.3mPV(tax shield) = T·D $15.0mAPV $148.3m
Unlevered FCF₁ (year 1)$12.0m
FCF growth g2.0%
Unlevered cost of equity k_u11.0%
Debt level D$60m
Tax rate T25%
Cost of debt k_d6.0%
The business alone is worth $133.3m. Financing with $60m of debt adds a tax shield worth $15.0m (the annual saving $0.9m = T·k_d·D, capitalised), so APV is $148.3m. The shield is 10% of the total. APV keeps these two visible; WACC would hide the shield inside a lower discount rate.
Try this

With no debt the gold block disappears and APV collapses to V_u. Push the debt slider up and watch the gold shield grow. In reality the rising chance of financial distress eventually offsets the shield, so more debt is not free value.

Reflect: APV adds the shield as a separate term, while WACC lowers the discount rate to bake the shield in. For a perpetual fixed debt level the PV of the shield is simply T·D, discounted at the cost of debt k_d. If the firm instead rebalances debt to a constant ratio, the shield carries the business risk and is discounted at k_u. Which convention fits a real company better, a fixed debt schedule or a target leverage ratio?

Adjusted Present Value (APV)Open in Dr Phil's Quant Lab ↗