LIV Golf Secures Investment From BC Partners After Declaring Bankruptcy
A new day has dawned on the professional men's golf league, LIV Golf, after BC Partners Credit offered to invest nearly $300 million to assist the team’s restructuring and to strengthen its finances ahead of the 2027 season. In September, LIV Golf filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in New Jersey, stating its intention to restructure its business with a $49.6 million bankruptcy loan provided by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia.
According to the petition, the team has between $500 million and $1 billion in liabilities, and between $100 million and $500 million in assets. LIV Golf hopes to complete its court-supervised restructuring process early next year.
Ted Goldthorpe, partner and head of BC Partners Credit, said that the financing company aims to facilitate the transition of the LIV Golf team from the restructuring phase to one where they are financially sound before heading into the 2027 season.
BC Partners Credit offers financial backing to middle-market companies. With this latest investment, it hopes to support LIV’s next phase, where the funding will help players become equity owners of both the league and its teams. The financing, however, must be approved by the bankruptcy courts, and LIV must meet all the necessary conditions.
Upon declaring bankruptcy, the sports team said that it could now transition to a player-first ownership model with the financial backing of BC Partners. LIV’s exit financing and debt restructuring will be financed by BC Partners and other potential minority investors. The bankruptcy petition revealed that the PIF owned 100% of the golf team’s equity. In April, the Saudi Arabian PIF announced it would cut funding after the 2026 golf season, as further investment in the rebel circuit no longer aligned with its strategy.
In his statement, LIV Golf CEO Scott O'Neil said that the future holds much potential to build something distinctive alongside the players and that major milestones will be met. He explained that the investment is a step toward a player-owned, team-focused, truly global league that creates new opportunities for players and partners.
The company affirmed that it would continue consultations with players and other stakeholders throughout the transition period. Its collaboration with BC Partners also allows for additional time to discuss players' future participation in the league, next season’s schedule, as well as any changes to the competitive format.
LIV Golf was launched in 2022 with the help of the Saudi Arabian PIF and recruited leading PGA Tour players with lucrative contracts, and has since invested over $5 billion in LIV. The golf team’s management only declared bankruptcy to transition to an innovative player-first ownership model, hoping to exit from bankruptcy by early 2027.
When LIV laid off most of its workforce in August, it explained that it was working towards securing new funding. While no other details were released, O'Neil had said that LIV had signed a term sheet with a ‘lead investor,’ although it was a non-binding agreement, leading industry commentators to speculate that the team has been in talks with BC Partners for the last couple of months.
