Pastoral Dairy Investments, a specialist investment fund led by New Zealand's dairy industry and investment figures, launched an initial public offer yesterday aimed at raising a minimum of $25 million for the purchase of South Island dairy farms.
The fund would start as a "cash box", but would seek to
be fully listed on the NZX within two years, said ABN Amro Craigs executive chairman Neil Craig.
The company intends to use the regular monthly milk payments from Fonterra, or other dairy companies, to pay quarterly dividends.
PDI will target larger farms in the 600- to 1000-cow range. The average herd size is around 380.
Separately, PDI will seek $50 million in what it calls co-investment from other parties who will be able to gain exposure to farm ownership at individual level.
