Eagle Football Holdings Bidco: IQ 2026 Update
June 1, 2026
Remains Rated CCR 5 And A Major Underperformer
The saga at this soccer/football conglomerate continues, as do the harsh words between its owner and Ares Capital (ARCC), one of its key lenders. We've written multiple times about this epic contest before, most recently on March 2, 2026. A few weeks later, the company was involuntary placed "under administration" in the United Kingdom by ARCC. This triggered colorful statements from the company's owner John Textor, aimed at the Ares folks.
Eagle Football in a statement said that it was “‘gravely offended by the unilateral and predatory decision’ of Ares to ‘break apart a financially viable multi-club business’ that Textor claims has turned ‘insolvent clubs into sporting success stories’”.
The situation is highly complex as many assets sit outside the jurisdiction of the UK insolvency administrator which is reportedly seeking buyers for the 3 football clubs Eagle owns.
For ARCC, though, the situation seems pretty dire because its investment is at a second lien level or in equity. Another BDC, which has more exposure in dollar terms, is non-traded. Apollo Debt Solutions BDC, with $177mn outstanding. Its loan to the company, though, is in a first lien position and valued at par.
By contrast, ARCC's $72mn invested has been written down to $14mn from $24mn the quarter before. A year ago, ARCC had advanced $87mn and valued its position at $85mn. In the interim, some of the debt was repaid when Eagle was forced to sell one of its crown jewels, Premier League club Crystal Palace, whose mascot is... an eagle. The proceeds reduced the debt modestly, but there seems to be little else of value left. The BDC Credit Reporter has long projected an eventual loss in the 75%-100% range, and that continues to be on the cards. Maybe there will be lingering litigation between Textor and Ares as well.
We're not quite done with this credit story, but this foray into sports lending - like many others - has gone drastically wrong for ARCC.
For the moment, though, we continue to rate the company a 5 on our 5 point scale and a Major Underperformer, given that total BDC FMV comes to $186mn. However, $172mn of that is held by Apollo high on the balance sheet.
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