$10mn BC Partners Loan Aims to Reassure PIF on LIV Golf Deal

BC Partners is putting up a $10mn bankruptcy loan for LIV Golf as part of a rescue deal the private equity firm hopes will settle questions from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund about why it wants in, the Financial Times reported.

What is the $10mn loan for?

The loan is structured as debtor-in-possession financing tied to LIV Golf's bankruptcy proceeding, according to the Financial Times. That kind of financing typically keeps a company operating while it works through a court-supervised reorganization, giving the lender a claim on repayment ahead of many other creditors once the case resolves.

Why is PIF pressing BC Partners for reassurance?

PIF, which has bankrolled LIV Golf since its 2021 launch, is asking BC Partners to demonstrate its commitment to the tour before the firm's rescue role is finalized, the Financial Times reported. The fund's scrutiny reflects broader questions about why a buyout firm best known for consumer and industrial deals wants a stake in a golf tour that has yet to turn a profit and remains tangled in bankruptcy court.

BC Partners to provide LIV with $10mn bankruptcy loan in effort to alleviate concern about its motivations for rescue deal

What does the bankruptcy process mean for LIV Golf?

A bankruptcy filing puts LIV Golf's finances under court oversight, with creditors and stakeholders able to weigh in on any rescue financing before it is approved. The Financial Times described BC Partners' loan explicitly as an effort to ease PIF's doubts, suggesting the fund has enough standing in the process to slow or complicate the deal if it is not satisfied.

How does BC Partners' deal address PIF's concerns?

The Financial Times did not detail the specific terms PIF is demanding beyond a broad call for BC Partners to prove its commitment to the tour. The $10mn loan itself functions as an initial signal of financial backing, but the report frames it as one step in a longer negotiation rather than a closing move.

What comes next for LIV Golf's ownership?

The Financial Times report does not specify a timeline for when BC Partners' role in the rescue will be finalized or how PIF's concerns will ultimately be resolved. LIV Golf's ownership structure has centered on PIF's funding since the tour's launch, and any new outside investor entering through a bankruptcy process would mark a shift in who controls the venture financially, though the extent of that shift was not detailed in the available reporting.

The Financial Times' full account of BC Partners' loan and PIF's response is available at ft.com.

Artiglio is A coming-soon iPhone chief of staff for briefings and drafts. Not on the App Store yet.