Question

Suppose the Alpha Manufacturing Corporation is experiencing extreme financial difficulties and is considering bankruptcy. Its shareholders are currently almost equally divided about whether or not the company should go bankrupt, with one outspoken faction pushing for bankruptcy and the other strongly opposing it. They have $50 million in debt all in the form of bonds, and bondholders are pretty well united in that they want the firm to declare bankruptcy.
A) The CEO announces that he is leaning against bankruptcy. This means one faction of shareholders is happy, but another faction of shareholders is very upset and the bondholders are also unhappy. Can the unhappy faction of shareholders team up with the bondholders to vote out the CEO? Explain your reasoning using references from the background readings.
B) Suppose Alpha ends up declaring bankruptcy. They do not have any cash in the bank but they own $60 million worth of real estate. They only have one type of shareholder—common shareholders. If they sell the real estate, how much of this will bondholders get and how much with shareholders get?
C) Now suppose that Alpha has two classes of shareholders—common shareholders and preferred shareholders. Preferred shareholders are owed $20 million in dividends that have been unpaid in the last two years. If Alpha goes bankrupt and sells its $60 million worth of real estate, how much will bondholders get, how much will common shareholders get, and how much will preferred shareholders get?

Answer 1

The answer should probably be C