Around 15 golfers have tentatively committed to the private equity-backed successor to LIV Golf, with several more expected to join next week. The players, who remain unnamed, are not part of the two player groups negotiating restructuring and settlement talks led by law firms Weil, Gotshal and Manges and Reed Smith, though some golfers in those consortiums could join later this week, according to people familiar with the discussions.
BC Partners is seeking a league of at least 30 to 40 players to start. The firm has been pursuing a $300mn investment in the so-called "LIV 2.0", which aspires to be a 17-event global team golf circuit. Player commitments were initially due by Sunday, a deadline BC is likely to extend given the interest it has secured. LIV filed for bankruptcy protection in September after its backer, the Saudi Public Investment Fund, said it would not go beyond the $5.5bn it had spent on the league since 2021.
Several LIV stars, including Spain's Jon Rahm, have publicly said they will not join LIV 2.0, after the DP World Tour announced that LIV 2.0 members would no longer be allowed to shuttle between the two leagues. The BC Partners plan allows players to own a slim majority of the new league, and interested golfers have been asking how governance rights, revenue and risks will be structured. BC has also been targeting a $5bn tax-loss asset that LIV has accrued.
LIV golfers are owed around $400mn in contractual guarantees, with the largest share owed to Rahm and the second-largest to Bryson DeChambeau, who has long been expected to anchor LIV 2.0 but has yet to formally commit. The Weil and Reed Smith groups are negotiating a trade in which players would withdraw disputes with LIV and PIF in exchange for some of the cash owed. PIF, the sole senior lender to LIV, has set an October 30 deadline for a deal on LIV 2.0 or it will seek to wind down the league.
Source: Financial Times Companies · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing