Nothing has to be put up on the front side for the $60M. It's like a blank check corporation. The money is put up, likely with conditions that it only be used in a certain fashion and be repaid in full to the investors in the event that an acquisition doesn't take place within a given time frame.
In the case of a deal going through, the collateral becomes the new acquisition.
Getting $60M isn't impossible. It's not even overly difficult if you have the right story and something behind it. I've gotten commitments of $2M on just meeting with people and talking. No written plan or paperwork. Basically, I put forth the plan and they agreed to give me amounts at given milestones. Essentially, I did the work, made the deal and they pay for it when it comes time to pay. In return, they get first claim on whatever is bought or a percentage ownership.
Depending on how strong your plan is and how much you bring to the table, you can sometimes get buried in the deal and end up just making money for someone else. It comes down to convincing them that they will make money and you are the only one that can put all the pieces together to do it. You then have to value yourself high enough in the deal to keep control.
It's more than possible to buy assets with no assets, it's not the easiest thing, but it happens all the time. $60M really isn't all that much when you start working the numbers. It's not that uncommon to run across individuals who will write out a $5M check towards something like this. I've seen it more than one would expect.