BC Partners wanted 30 to 40 golfers. LIV got about 15. That is not a rescue plan. That is a foursome with a funding request.
Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund spent years and, by one report, more than $5 billion on this league. Then it left. LIV filed for Chapter 11 on September 8 and went shopping for a new sugar daddy. BC Partners Credit showed up with up to $300 million. Players would own the league. Fewer events. Cozy.
The players read the offer and did what millionaires do when handed ownership of a bankrupt company. They asked for more money.
Reports say some representatives were still haggling over financial terms as the deadline closed in. Haggling. Over a company in bankruptcy court. That is like negotiating the thread count on the Titanic's lifeboats.
BC Partners set an October 25 deadline. Then extended it. Then ran out of extensions and ran out of patience. Credit to them. Most lenders only dream of reading a signature page that thin.
Now liquidation looms. A bankruptcy court hearing is set for Thursday. Reports say several players rushed back to the table overnight, and BC is "not out completely." So the golfers who wouldn't sign now want to sign. Bold strategy. It's called locking the door after the house burns down.
Retail traders, take notes. This is what a position looks like when everyone is "interested" and nobody is committed. You've been doing it with call options for years.
LIV promised to disrupt golf. Mission accomplished. Golf is now watching a league disrupt itself into a liquidation auction, where the lots will presumably include team logos and a lot of very large novelty checks.
Nobody wanted to be an owner of LIV Golf, which tells you everything about what they thought it was worth.
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