Case Study #10 Food processor The need for step down payments to match cash flow needs. A large, privately held Cheese Processor located in the Midwest needed a major overhaul of its existing processing plant to accommodate a new contract with a brand name company. The brand name company committed to only five years with the option to renew. Our customer wanted to extend the terms for eight years, yet they were concerned about their payments after the fifth year due to the uncertainty of the contract. We structured an operating lease for eight years with successive step down payments through the life of the lease, still matching the annual payments with the annual commitment stated in the contract. This allowed the Lessee to have nominal payments for years six, seven and eight.