Saudi Welfare Fund in talks with Lucid for car factory, says FT

Photographer: David Paul Morris / Bloomberg

Lucid Motors Inc. is in talks with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund to set up a factory for electric vehicles 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 near the city of Jeddah in the Red Sea. The company raised more than $ 1 billion from the PIF in 2018, an investment that required the company to develop a website in Saudi Arabia.

The FT wants to attract international companies to set up operations in the kingdom, the FT said. It is “already in talks with a number of companies in the health sector”, Al-Rumayyan told the newspaper without giving further details.

The PIF is also in talks with “many” companies in SoftBank’s Saudi-backed Vision Fund. “The next step is to continue to bring them to the kingdom,” Al-Rumayyan said.

• The PIF’s international exposure will fall to around 20% of assets under management over the next five years, from almost 30%.
• Saudi Arabia may consider listing more shares Saudi Aramco “if the valuation is right,” he said.
• The PIF will need additional government cash injections. This will only happen when the reserves of the central bank are replenished.
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