Exam 19: Lease Financing

In a synthetic lease a special purpose entity (SPE) is set up by a corporation that wants to acquire the use of an asset. The SPE borrows up to 97% of its capital, uses its funds to buy the asset, and then leases it to the sponsoring corporation on a short-term basis. This keeps both the asset and the debt off the sponsoring company's books.

Carmichael Cleaners needs a new steam finishing machine that costs $100,000. The company is evaluating whether it should lease or purchase the machine. The equipment falls into the MACRS 3-year class, and it would be used for 3 years and then sold, because the firm plans to move to a new facility at that time. The estimated value of the equipment after 3 years is $30,000. A maintenance contract on the equipment would cost $3,000 per year, payable at the beginning of each year. Alternatively, the firm could lease the equipment for 3 years for a lease payment of $29,000 per year, payable at the beginning of each year. The lease would include maintenance. The firm is in the 20% tax bracket, and it could obtain a 3-year simple interest loan, interest payable at the end of the year, to purchase the equipment at a before-tax cost of 10%. If there is a positive Net Advantage to Leasing the firm will lease the equipment. Otherwise, it will buy it. What is the NAL? (Note: Assume MACRS rates for Years 1 to 4 are 0.3333, 0.4445, 0.1481, and 0.0741.)

In the lease versus buy decision, leasing is often preferable