A large-scale dairy taken from the ground up to a financed, operating business, structured so the project itself backs the debt: build the herd and the milk stream, then stand up a special-purpose vehicle that issues notes secured by the herd as hard collateral and serviced by the milk and cattle cash flows.
I built the entire financial development of this investment and acted as CFO, managing the project directly. Starting from scratch, I modeled the project economics, structured the capital, and secured financing from both a US-based lender and local sources. The engagement ran through to installing the operating equipment and bringing the dairy into production. The purpose of the structure was the creation of an SPV backed by the project, so the herd and its cash flows could carry a note issuance.
A dairy is capital-heavy and slow to fill: the herd builds over several years before it reaches scale, so the financing has to carry the build before the milk is at full flow. The structure answers that directly. The notes draw down as the herd is acquired, principal is held through a short grace period and then stepped to the production ramp, and the herd capitalizes as it grows, so the collateral base rises while the notes amortize. Overcollateralization climbs year by year, and a debt-service reserve protects the noteholders.
About the figures: the interactive model below recasts the same financial framework at US current-market scale, drawn from USDA and industry 2026 data, so the economics read clearly in a US context. Figures and identifying details are illustrative.