Answer Happy

DownUnder Exploration is an oil and gas exploration firm in Australia. The firm is currently operating two active oil fields in the state of Western Australia and each oil field has a market value of $400 million dollars. DownUnder, however, is in financial distress as it has $850 million in debt coming due at the end of the year. A large oil company has offered DownUnder a highly speculative, but potentially very valuable, oil and gas lease in exchange for one of DownUnder's active oil fields. If DownUnder accepts the exchange, there is a 30% chance that DownUnder will discover a major new oil field that would be worth $1.9 billion, a 30% chance that DownUnder will discover a productive oil field that would be worth $600 million, and a 40% chance that Down Under will not discover any oil at all. What is the expected payoff to equity holders of DownUnder with the speculative oil lease deal? $80 million $220 million $340 million $480 million None of the above