Later today (Thursday) the Minister for Agriculture, Michael Creed and the chairman of Glanbia, Henry Corbally, will announce the creation of a €55m Glanbia advance payment (GAP) scheme that will offer interest-free cashflow support to member suppliers in periods when milk and grain prices are weak.

€50m of the scheme will go towards milk and €5m will go towards grain.

Participation in the scheme is voluntary and will allow members to draw down cashflow support from the Glanbia advance payment scheme when the market prices for milk and grain fall below specific levels, or “price triggers”, set annually by the co-op's board.

The interest free repayments to the GAP scheme will be triggered when markets recover above specific levels.

The co-op will raise €100m by issuing a convertible bond, €55m of which will be used for the scheme. This effectively means that it is pledging €70m worth of shares today and investors are lending the co-op €100m at 1.5% per year in return.

No dilution of Glanbia shares

This provides the co-op with additional resources for the new support fund for its milk and grain supplying members. The bond issuance has no direct impact on the liquidity of the PLC shares and does not involve any current or prospective equity dilution.

The GAP scheme is a dynamic volatility measure which will be in place between May 2016 and December 2020.

Glanbia said the scheme is the latest in a suite of innovative mechanisms developed to help its member suppliers cope with income volatility. Other mechanisms in place include fixed milk price schemes, the €100m MilkFlex Loan Product and the 2016 member support package of €37m.

Watch the video released by Glanbia to promote the GAP scheme below: