A Case for using a Real Asset Transaction Approach for Estimating the Cost of Capital from Rural Telephone Company Data

Abstract

This paper develops a real asset transaction approach for estimating the cost of capital for rural telephone companies whose financial assets are not publicly traded. The transaction approach uses the actual purchase prices of rural local exchange carriers (RLECs)’ properties and cash flows for estimating the rate of return required by buyers and sellers of RLEC properties. The transaction approach produces higher cost of capital estimates than a traditional approach using a weighted average of debt and equity costs of proxy companies traded on organized exchanges. The estimated difference is in line with the risk premium estimated for small non-traded companies estimated by Duff and Phelps Ibbotson.