The Lucid Air sedan, which is expected to go into production next year at a plant being built in Arizona.
Lucid
Electric vehicle firm Lucid Motors plans to make public a combined capital value of $ 11.7 billion and a pro-forma value of $ 24 billion through a reverse merger with a check company in white started by veteran investment banker Michael Klein.
The agreement between Lucid, based in Newark, California, and Churchill Capital Corp IV, is the most important of a series of such links involving electric vehicle companies and blank check companies, also known as electric companies. special purpose acquisition or SPAC.
SPAC’s previous deals with emerging companies such as Nikola, Fisker and Lordstown Motors earned pro-forma valuations of less than $ 4 billion, but Lucid is further away than these companies. Lucid will launch its first vehicle, a luxury sedan called the Air, this spring.
The deal will generate about $ 4.4 billion in cash for Lucid’s expansion plans, including its current plant in Arizona.
CCIV shares fell about 30 percent, to $ 40, in expanded trading.
Lucid is led by former Tesla engineering executive veteran and automotive veteran Peter Rawlinson, who joined the company as chief technology officer in 2013 before adding CEO to his responsibilities in April 2019. It will continue in these functions after the expected closing of the agreement in the second quarter, according to the companies.
Lucid was founded in 2007 under the name Atieva, a name it now uses for its engineering and technology arm that supplies batteries to the Formula E electric racing circuit. The company first focused on the technology of electric batteries before changing their name and moving to an electric vehicle manufacturer in 2016., three years after Rawlinson joined the company to lead technological development.
Lucid had some difficulty raising capital to fund his plans until September 2018, when he received $ 1 billion from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.
Rawlinson last year described SPAC’s offerings as quick money, but not with enough capital to bring a vehicle into its own production, which has led companies like Fisker to look for contract manufacturers.
Prior to the announcement with Klein’s firm, Rawlinson said the company had the funding to begin producing air at a plant in Casa Grande, Arizona, located southeast of Phoenix.
The new funding is expected to help Lucid in its expansion plans. Rawlinson expects the Air to be the catalyst for a range of future all-electric vehicles, including an SUV that will begin production in early 2023 and more affordable vehicles on the line.
Lucid currently employs about 2,000 people, and 3,000 employees are expected to be added to the United States by the end of 2022, according to the company.
The deal includes a total investment of about $ 4.6 billion. It is funded by $ 2.1 billion in CCIV cash and $ 2.5 billion PIPE fully committed to $ 15 per share by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, as well as funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, Fidelity and others.