Photographer: David Paul Morris / Bloomberg
Photographer: David Paul Morris / Bloomberg
Lucid Motors Inc. is in talks with the Saudi Arabian sovereign fund to build an electric vehicle factory in the kingdom, the Financial Times reported, citing an interview with the fund’s governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan.
Bloomberg reported earlier this month that Lucid is in talks with the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund to build a factory potentially near the city of Jeddah on the Red Sea. The company raised more than $ 1 billion from PIF in 2018, an investment that depended on the development of a website in Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter said.
The fund is trying to attract international companies to establish operations in the kingdom, said FT. He “is already in discussions with several companies in the health sector,” Al-Rumayyan told the newspaper, without giving further details.
The PIF is also in negotiations with “many” companies in SoftBank Vision Fund, supported by Saudi Arabia. “The next step is to move forward to take them to the kingdom,” said Al-Rumayyan.
- PIF’s international exposure will decrease to around 20% of assets under management over the next five years, from almost 30%.
- Saudi Arabia may consider listing more shares on the Saudi Aramco “if the assessment is correct,” he said.
- The PIF will need additional injections of government money. This will happen only when the central bank’s reserves are replenished.
- NOTE: Saudi Arabia removes central bank and sets targets for wealth funds