Final answer:
The payback period of this investment is approximately 3.71 years.
Step-by-step explanation:
The payback period is a measure used to determine how long it takes to recover the initial investment in a project. To calculate the payback period, we need to determine how long it will take for the cash inflows to equal or exceed the initial investment.
In this case, the initial investment is $10.7 million and the cash inflows are $4.4 million in the first year and $1.7 million in subsequent years. To find the payback period, we subtract the cash inflows from the initial investment until we reach zero or a positive value.
By subtracting $4.4 million from $10.7 million, we have $6.3 million remaining. Dividing this remaining amount by the cash inflow of $1.7 million per year, we find that it will take approximately 3.71 years to recover the initial investment.