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- Shares of Churchill Capital Corp IV rose about 20% on Monday amid continued optimism for a merger with EV Lucid Motors.
- Lucid is in talks with the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund to create an EV factory in the country.
- The EV manufacturer also recently completed the construction of a 590-acre production facility in Arizona.
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Shares of Churchill Capital Corp IV rose another 20% on Monday amid continued optimism surrounding a possible merger with Lucid Motors.
The news of Michael Klein’s SPAC possibly merging with EV manufacturer Lucid to make the company public has led to the shares of the blankcheck company rising about 167% in less than three weeks.
Churchill Capital IV still refused to confirm or deny the reports.
“We generally do not comment on rumors and speculations and will not comment on whether or not the company is taking advantage of a specific business opportunity, except to say that, as noted, we are always evaluating a number of potential mergers, “wrote the company. in a statement on January 19th.
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Despite the lack of certainty surrounding the merger, hopes of a Lucid acquisition push the shares of Churchill Capital Corp IV higher. And with the Financial Times reporting that the EV manufacturer is in talks with the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund to build an electric vehicle factory near the city of Jeddah in the Red Sea, there is another stake in Churchill.
The Financial Times spoke with Saudi Fund Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan, who earlier this month confirmed reports from Bloomberg that Lucid was considering building a new factory in the kingdom.
The move by Lucid seems to be a logical step given the history of the company with the Saudi Arabian fund.
Back in 2018, a cash-strapped Lucid took in $ 1.3 billion from the Saudis to keep operations going, an investment that was conditional on Lucid having to develop a production plant in Saudi Arabia, according to Bloomberg.
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The news of a new plant in Saudi Arabia comes at the end of Lucid’s announcement in December of the completion of a 590-acre production plant in Casa Grande, Arizona.
The Arizona plant expects to deliver up to 30,000 units per year in its first year of operation. And in the final form, the production capacity will grow to 400,000 annually.
If Churchill Capital Corp IV and Lucid eventually merge, the EV company will also withdraw a hefty amount of cash from the SPAC to fund its operations in the future.
All this news gives investors the chance to buy a blank check company that may or may not be the EV treasure that can compete with Tesla.
Churchill Capital Corp IV shares traded about $ 26.79 a share at 9:31 a.m. EST on Monday. The SPAC now boasts a market capitalization of $ 6.93 billion.
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