THIS MORNING: LIV Golf heads for liquidation as BC Partners’ rescue fizzles

Good morning, folks. We’re starting the day with a number: the roughly USD 51 bn the Houthis reportedly want in exchange for ending the war. Riyadh denies the ask, though the other options are not cheap either.

None of that has cooled PIF’s appetite abroad. The fund is circling another gaming asset in Unity Software even as one of its former big bets, LIV Golf, slides toward liquidation.

And Saudi tech is learning to be picky. The talent land grab has given way to execution mode, with scarce local and AI hands commanding the premium.

The rest of the morning is earnings, and the war runs through them too. Top lines are arriving thinner at the bottom, with slower projects and stranded volumes doing the damage.

No rescue for LIV

LIV Golf is heading into liquidation after its rescue financing collapsed. Talks with BC Partners Credit broke down over unresolved terms, and the restructuring agreement was terminated, according to a statement. The league’s board special committee called an “orderly wind-down” the “most responsible path forward,” though it is leaving the door open for a buyer.

The wind-down follows the court-approved Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection timeline, which allowed for this outcome if no acceptable reorganization emerged. “While there was great support for the league, we are disappointed that mutually acceptable terms could not be reached among the various stakeholders,” a BC Partners spokesperson told Reuters.

REMEMBER- BC Partners Credit made an initial committed investment in LIV Golf, part of a targeted USD 300 mn in financing to help the league emerge from bankruptcy ahead of next year’s season, when players were to become equity owners of both the league and its teams. LIV Golf filed for Chapter 11 in September after PIF pulled the plug on the league in April, saying it would stop funding after 2026.

PIF still needs to resolve its remaining commitments: A group of LIV golfers is pushing for severance over unpaid contracts. More than 10 players are trying to negotiate with PIF over contracts worth more than USD 100 mn. PIF sees itself as an equity investor that has stopped investing and is not in talks with players or their counsel. It initially offered players 2 cents on the USD to settle the unpaid contracts.

A crude price cut

Aramco cut its December price for Arab Light crude to Asia by USD 2 / bbl to USD 6.50 / bbl below the Oman/Dubai average — the lowest since May 2020 — as recovering Gulf supplies and weaker spot-market premiums weigh on demand, Reuters reports, citing a pricing document it has seen. The company also lowered December prices for all grades sold to Northwest Europe and the Mediterranean by USD 1 / bbl, while keeping US prices unchanged.

Production recovers: Saudi Arabia raised crude output by 970k bbl / d in October to 9.2 mn bbl / d, accounting for most of Opec’s 930k bbl / d increase that month, which took the group’s production to 22.8 mn bbl / d, according to a Bloomberg survey. Saudi exports averaged 7 mn bbl / d in October, approaching pre-war levels, as the Kingdom increasingly routed shipments through the Strait of Hormuz and Red Sea ports.

MEANWHILE- HSBC raised its forecast for Aramco’s crude production in 4Q to 8.3 mn bbl / d from 6.3 mn bbl / d, citing a faster-than-expected export recovery, Reuters reported separately. The bank also lifted its 2027 forecast to 9.8 mn bbl / d from 8.8 mn bbl / d, expecting output to reach around 10 mn bbl / d by mid-2027.

IN CONTEXT- Aramco plans to maximize oil production in 4Q as it pushes exports through all available routes, and is seeking to regain market share lost during the conflict, Bloomberg reports. Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said last month that rebuilding depleted global oil inventories could take up to two years.

Calling it in

WWE’s Crown Jewel went ahead in Riyadh on Saturday, though much of it was reportedly run from Connecticut. The show took place as scheduled, but ahead of it, trade outlets reported WWE had pulled a large part of the broadcast back to its Stamford headquarters over safety concerns amid regional tensions.

A scaled-back Riyadh setup: PWInsider Elite said the commentary team called the event remotely, with graphics and audio handled in the US and only camera and sound crews on the ground in Riyadh. Staff who traveled were reportedly offered USD 3k in hazard pay. The Wrestling Observer added that the venue was moved to the indoor 6k-seat ANB Arena at the Saudi government’s request. WWE hasn’t confirmed the arrangements.

World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns beat Undisputed WWE Champion Sami Zayn to claim the Men’s Crown Jewel Championship. Just moments after Chelsea Green beat Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan to take the Women’s Crown Jewel Championship, Tiffany Stratton defeated Green to claim the WWE Women’s Championship. Cody Rhodes took the Last Man Standing match after hitting Randy Orton with a Punt, while Penta and Je’Von Evans claimed the World Tag Team Title from Bron Breakker and Austin Theory.

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The big story abroad

Tensions are flaring even before the new US Congress convenes. US President Donald Trump has instructed the Justice Department to open an investigation into the Democrats, who have promised to scrutinize his administration and Republican donors when the Democratic Party assumes control of the House and Senate in January. Fresh off a sweeping midterm victory, Democrats have vowed to examine evidence related to how the Trump administration handled the review of the Epstein files that lawmakers had ordered be made public. The Democrats have also pledged to look into Trump’s tariffs, immigration policies, and stock trading.

Nvidia CEO suspected of involvement with Chinese spy: Washington believes Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was romantically involved with alleged Chinese spy Alice Huang, an executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based customer under US scrutiny for allegedly smuggling Nvidia chips into China, the Financial Times reports, citing people familiar with the matter. US intelligence believes China’s Ministry of State Security recruited Alice. A memo on the relationship reached senior officials shortly before Trump’s Beijing summit with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. Nvidia declined to comment. The company had launched an internal probe earlier into the smuggling claims and said it found no evidence of wrongdoing.

Back to the table: The US, Russia, and Ukraine will meet in Abu Dhabi this week for their first talks on ending the war since February. Moscow will send senior diplomats as well as military intelligence and army officials. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov will also join for the first time. Russia launched missile and drone strikes on energy facilities around Kyiv over the weekend, which is putting pressure on the capital’s electricity and heating as temperatures drop near freezing.