The Lucid Air sedan, due to go into production next year at a factory under construction in Arizona.
Lucid
Electric vehicle company Lucid Motors plans to go public with a combined equity valuation of $ 11.75 billion and a pro forma equity value of $ 24 billion through a reverse merger with a blank check company. initiated by veteran investment banker Michael Klein.
The deal between Lucid and Churchill Capital Corp IV, based in Newark, California, is the largest in a series of deals involving EVs and blank checks, also known as special-purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs.
The former SPAC deals with EV start-ups, such as Nikola, Fisker and Lordstown Motors, which have obtained pro forma appraisals of less than $ 4 billion, but Lucid is more advanced than these companies. Lucid is due to deliver its first vehicle – a luxury sedan called 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’s shares fell about 30% to $ 40 in prolonged trading.
Lucid is led by former Tesla engineering executive and automotive veteran Peter Rawlinson, who joined the company as chief technology officer in 2013 before adding CEO to his responsibilities in April 2019. He will continue in these roles after the expected closing of the business in second quarter, according to the companies.
Lucid was founded in 2007 as Atieva, a name he now uses for his engineering and technology arm that supplies batteries for the Formula E racing electric circuit. The company first focused on electric battery technology before changing its name and switching to an electric vehicle manufacturer in 2016, three years after Rawlinson joined the company to lead the development of its technology.
Lucid had some difficulty raising capital to finance its plans until September 2018, when it received $ 1 billion from the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund.
Rawlinson last year described SPAC’s business as quick money, but not enough capital to bring a vehicle for in-house production, which prompted companies like Fisker to seek out contract manufacturers.
Before the announcement with Klein’s company, Rawlinson said the company had funding to start producing Air at a factory in Casa Grande, Arizona, which is located southeast of Phoenix.
The new financing is expected to help Lucid with its expansion plans. Rawlinson expects Air to be the catalyst for a line of all-electric vehicles of the future, including an SUV that started production in early 2023 and cheaper vehicles in the line.
Lucid currently employs about 2,000 people, with 3,000 employees expected to be added in 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 being financed by $ 2.1 billion in cash from CCIV and a $ 2.5 billion PIPE fully committed to $ 15 per share by the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund, as well as funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, Fidelity and others.