The PGA Tour and LIV Golf are allegedly moving closer to finalizing a significant merger agreement.
The PGA Tour and the public wealth fund of Saudi Arabia are reportedly still in talks despite a number of obstacles in the merger process. It has been almost a year since the PGA and LIV Golf decided to collaborate, and last week Rory McIlroy felt obliged to admit that he had lost all faith in an agreement.
Nevertheless, there are now rumors circulating that a massive £1.2 billion deal is almost certainly imminent. The term sheets were allegedly exchanged in the last few days, according to reports from the USA.
The deal would see the Saudi Public Investment Fund, which supports LIV Golf, contribute £1.2 billion to the PGA’s for-profit division, according to the New York Times.
The Saudis would eventually pay PGA Tour Enterprises slightly more than £2 billion, the report continues. In that scenario, PGA Tour would continue to hold a majority stake in PGA Tour Enterprises.
It happens one week after McIlroy disclosed how little faith he had in a deal. He was responding to reports that Jimmy Dunne, a prominent member of the policy board, had resigned.
McIlroy, who also resigned from the policy board earlier this year, has an ally in Dunne, and the Irishman felt that friend was crucial to the conversation.
In all honesty, I believe the PGA Tour has lost a great deal if they were hoping to finalize the agreement with PIF and bring the game together. According to McIlroy, Jimmy served as a sort of intermediary between the PIF and the PGA Tour.
“His lack of involvement over the past few months has been really unfortunate, and I believe that’s contributing to the current stagnation of the situation. It’s really disappointing, and I believe that as a result, the tour is in a worse situation.
“It’s concerning that Jimmy resigned and that we now know the nature of his relationship and the warmth of the other side. We’ll see where it goes from here and what happens, but I would say my confidence level on getting something done before last week was as low as it had been.”
McIlroy is still a member of the “transaction committee” of active players engaged in talks with PIF. A number of stars left the PGA Tour to join LIV Golf, but McIlroy stayed on the tour.
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