Lucky Strike Entertainment spent $306 million buying back 58 bowling centers from Carlyle, then borrowed to do it. Where the money behind the AMF community bowling revival actually came from.
On July 10, 2025, Lucky Strike Entertainment (NYSE: LUCK), the company formerly called Bowlero and the owner of the Professional Bowlers Association and the AMF brand, spent $306 million buying back 58 of its own bowling centers, spread across 16 states, from the private equity firm Carlyle. On paper it looked like a company betting on itself, buying back the real estate under its own lanes. This video follows the money behind that move, and behind the AMF community bowling revival the company is now pitching to league bowlers.
The catch is how it paid. Only about $76 million came from cash and the revolving credit line. The other $230 million came from a brand-new bridge loan, created by the Thirteenth Amendment to the company’s First Lien Credit Agreement, carrying a rate of Term SOFR plus 2.50% that was engineered to step up another 0.50% every 90 days until the company was forced to refinance. On September 22, 2025, it did exactly that, replacing the short-term bridge with a $1.2 billion term loan and $500 million in 7.25% senior notes, both due 2032.
You can watch the effect land on the balance sheet. Long-term borrowings rose from about $1.3 billion at the June 29, 2025 fiscal year close to roughly $1.7 billion after the refinancing. To be clear, no public filing earmarks a sing