Weell, in simple terms
cost of capital (WACC) = cost of equity + cost of debt
there is no clear cut formula to calculate cost of equity (wen it comes to real world, book gives the formula)
when i was doing my project in real estate, i had to find the cost of equity. This i was able to find, by talking to the CFOs and MDs and Presidents of the Real EstaTE funds.
Cost of debt is the current market rate at which the banks are ready to lend. Now this may differ by a few bps fpr different players in the market depending on their market repo, deep pockets, credit rating etc.
With these two values determined, cost of capital is determined by taking weighted avergae of these two.
~rara avis