Omicron Technologies Has $40 Million in Excess Cash and No

Omicron Technologies has $40 million in excess cash and no debt. The firm expects to generate additional free cash flows of $32 million per year in subsequent years and will pay out these future free cash flows as regular dividends. Omicron's unlevered cost of capital is 9% and there are 8 million shares outstanding. Omicron's board is meeting to decide whether to pay out its $40 million in excess cash as a special dividend or to use it to repurchase shares of the firm's stock. Assume that Omicron uses the entire $40 million to repurchase shares. The number of shares that Omicron will have outstanding following the repurchase is closest to ________.

A) 5.8 million
B) 8.6 million
C) 14.4 million
D) 7.2 million