PG&E, the power company threatened by liabilities in California’s deadly wildfires, negotiated $5.5 billion in bank loans to carry it through a bankruptcy restructuring even as a major investor urged executives to wait.

The utility would have to obtain court approval to withdraw cash under the commitments for so-called debtor-in-possession financing, which it obtained from JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Barclays PLC, and Citigroup, according to a regulatory filing in late January. Such financing provides a lifeline to distressed firms, typically taking precedence over other outstanding debts in return.