LIV Golf’s $300M BC Partners Credit Deal Is Off

LIV Golf’s $300 million deal with BC Partners Credit to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy is off.

“This version is not going to be signed,” a source with knowledge of BC’s operations told Front Office Sports. 

BC Partners was set to provide $300 million of financing for LIV as part of the restructuring support agreement (RSA) outlined in bankruptcy filings. Players would have been the majority equity holders in “LIV 2.0,” but BC would have owned nearly half of the new league. 

There was an Oct. 25 deadline from BC for a “requisite number of players” to commit to LIV 2.0, and a separate Oct. 30 deadline from the Saudi PIF, the largest creditor in LIV’s bankruptcy, for a decision on whether LIV would move forward or wind down operations. Both dates passed without announcements from any of the parties involved. 

The Financial Times first reported BC was “dropping its bid to relaunch LIV,” leaving the league “to seek a liquidation of its remaining assets.” 

LIV has its next bankruptcy hearing on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. ET, when lawyers had been expected to update Judge Michael Kaplan on next steps regarding a relaunch or shutdown of the league. It’s still unclear whether LIV will wind down operations completely. BC is “not out completely,” the source told FOS, “just not under this version.” However, it is “too early to say” what BC would need to see from LIV to reengage, the source said.

LIV CEO Scott O’Neil called BC Partners Credit CEO Ted Goldthorpe a “white knight” last month, as the league transitioned away from its Saudi funding.

Bryson DeChambeau was the most notable player publicly supporting LIV 2.0, although it’s not known whether he officially signed on for the league’s next iteration. A source with knowledge of LIV’s operations claimed to FOS that a “critical mass of players had been achieved last week.”

Jon Rahm reached a settlement to exit LIV, and this week said returning to the league “wasn’t really ever much of a consideration.” Tyrrell Hatton, Tom McKibbin, Ian Poulter, David Puig, Adrian Meronk, Sergio Garcia, Louis Oosthuizen, and Graeme McDowell were among the other notable players to also announce they would not return to LIV.

LIV Golf could not be reached for comment.