What happened
Actions of Churchill Capital IV (NYSE: CCIV) more than doubled since the first week of January, when speculation began to circulate that the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) could bring the luxury electric vehicle maker Lucid Motors to the public.
In pre-market trading on Monday morning, Churchill Capital’s shares jumped nearly 50% before stabilizing. As of 9:30 am EST, the shares were trading 21% above Friday’s closing price.
And
The jump comes later The Financial Times reported overnight that Lucid is in talks with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund to build a new EV plant in the kingdom. The Saudi fund is already a major holder of Lucid after having invested more than $ 1 billion in 2018.
Lucid Air luxury electric sedan. Image source: Lucid Motors.
A condition of the Saudi fund’s investment was that the automaker should build a factory in Saudi Arabia, according to Bloomberg reports.
What now
The luxury sedan Lucid Air will be available with more than 1,000 horsepower and a range of 517 miles. The vehicle will compete directly with Tesla. Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson worked as chief engineer on the Tesla Model S sedan.
Lucid’s first vehicles are expected to be available this spring at its Arizona plant. The initial model of the Air sedan will be the $ 161,500 Air Dream Edition. Future models will include the entry level Air Pure listed at $ 69,900. Lucid also has plans for a future SUV model, although no details have been released.
Investors should be aware that there is still no defined agreement for the merger of Churchill Capital with Lucid. That rumor may or may not be true, and stock bids on SPAC now remain speculative.