General Meters is considering two mergers. The first is with Firm A in its own
volatile industry, the auto speedometer industry, while the second is a merger
with Firm B in an industry that moves in the opposite direction (and will tend to
level out performance due to negative correlation).
General Meters Merger
with Firm A
General Meters Merger
with Firm B
Possible
Earnings
(\( in millions) Probability
Possible
Earnings
(\) in millions) Probability
\(40 ........... 0.30 \)40 ........... 0.25
60 ........... 0.40 60 ........... 0.50
80 ........... 0.30 80 ........... 0.25
aCompute the mean, standard deviation, and coefficient of variation for both
investments (refer to Chapter 13 if necessary).
b.Assuming investors are risk-averse, which alternative can be expected to
bring the higher valuation?