The material presented is carefully selected with an eye to what is essential to understanding the underlying theory, ensuring that this text will remain useful for years to come. The book is divided into three parts. The first section presents the basic principles of valuation based on the absence of arbitrage, including a discussion of the determinants of the optimal capital structure based on the seminal results of Modigliani and Miller. The second section discusses the implications of agency problems and information asymmetries to capital structure, giving particular attention to payout policy and to debt contract design. The concluding portion presents different ways of restructuring capital, including going public, going private using stock repurchases or leveraged buyouts, and mergers and acquisitions