Electric vehicle firm Lucid Motors to go public in $11.8 billion blank-check merger

Electrical car agency Lucid Motors plans to go public at an $11.75 billion mixed fairness valuation and $24 billion pro-forma fairness worth via a reverse merger with a blank-check firm began by veteran funding banker Michael Klein.

The deal between Newark, California-based Lucid and Churchill Capital Corp IV is the biggest in a collection of such tie-ups involving EV corporations and blank-check corporations, also called a particular goal acquisition corporations, or SPACs.

Earlier SPAC offers with EV start-ups akin to Nikola, Fisker and Lordstown Motors garnered pro-forma valuations of lower than $4 billion, however Lucid is farther alongside than these corporations. Lucid is ready to ship its first car – a luxurious sedan referred to as the Air – this spring.

The deal will generate about $4.4 billion in money for enlargement plans for Lucid, together with its present manufacturing facility in Arizona.

Shares of CCIV fell by roughly 30% to $40 in prolonged buying and selling.

Lucid is led by ex-Tesla engineering govt and automotive veteran Peter Rawlinson, who joined the corporate as chief expertise officer in 2013 earlier than including CEO to his tasks in April 2019. He’ll proceed in these roles following the anticipated closure of the deal within the second quarter, in response to the businesses.

Lucid was based in 2007 as Atieva, a reputation it now makes use of for its engineering and tech arm that provides batteries to electrical racing circuit Components E. The corporate first targeted on electrical battery expertise earlier than altering its title and shifting to an electrical car producer in 2016, three years after Rawlinson joined the corporate to steer its expertise growth.

Lucid had some problem acquiring capital to fund its plans till September 2018 when it obtained $1 billion from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.

Rawlinson final 12 months described SPAC offers as fast cash, however not sufficient capital to convey a car to manufacturing in-house, which has led corporations akin to Fisker to hunt contract producers.

Previous to the announcement with Klein’s agency, Rawlinson stated the corporate had the funding to start out producing the Air at a plant in Casa Grande, Arizona, which is situated southeast of Phoenix.

The brand new funding is predicted to help Lucid in its enlargement plans. Rawlinson expects the Air to be the catalyst for a lineup of future all-electric automobiles, together with an SUV beginning manufacturing in early 2023 and extra inexpensive automobiles down the road.

Lucid at present employs practically 2,000 folks, with 3,000 staff anticipated to be added within the U.S. domestically by the top of 2022, in response to the corporate.

The deal features a complete funding of about $4.6 billion. It’s being funded by $2.1 billion in money from CCIV and a $2.5 billion totally dedicated PIPE at $15 per share by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund in addition to funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, Constancy and others.