Ans.
Assumption of the MM approach
The MM approach to irrelevance of dividend is based on the following assumptions: * The capital markets are perfect and the investors behave rationally. * All information is freely available to all the investors. * There is no transaction cost. * Securities are divisible and can be split into any fraction. No investor can affect the market price. * There are no taxes and no flotation cost. * The firm has a defined investment policy and the future profits are known with certainty. The implication is that the investment decisions are unaffected by the dividend decision and the operating cash flows are same no matter which dividend policy is adopted.
The model
Under the assumptions stated above, MM argue that neither the firm paying dividends nor the shareholders receiving the dividends will be adversely affected by firms paying either too little or too much dividends. They have used the arbitrage process to show that the division of profits between dividends and retained earnings is irrelevant from the point of view of the shareholders. They have shown that given the investment opportunities, a firm will finance these either by ploughing back profits of if pays dividends, then will raise an equal amount of new share capital externally by selling new shares. The amount of dividends paid to existing shareholders will be replaced by new share capital raised externally.
In order to satisfy their model, MM has started with the following valuation model.
P0= 1* (D1+P1)/ (1+ke) Where,
P0 = Present market price of the share
Ke = Cost of equity share capital
D1 = Expected dividend at the end of year 1
P1 = Expected market price of the share at the end of year 1
With the help of this valuation model we will create a arbitrage process, i.e., replacement of amount paid as dividend by the issue of fresh capital. The arbitrage process involves two simultaneous