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Lucid plans to target the very high end of the automotive market.
Credit to Lucid Motors
The possible merger between an acquisition company
Churchill Capital Corp IV
and EV startup Lucid Motors appears to be one of the worst kept secrets on Wall Street.
Churchill stock (ticker: CCIV) is on the rise again after another message that a merger announcement was imminent. Yet neither company is willing to confirm the deal.
Churchill stock is up about 30% on Tuesday afternoon to $ 52. The stock traded below $ 37 early in the day. The stock has been shut down for short periods due to volatility.
The deal would value Lucid at approximately $ 12 billion. Churchill has about $ 2 billion in cash on its books, meaning it will own about 17% of the new company. That’s a very rough guideline and will change when, or if, deal details come up.
With Churchill’s stock trading at $ 52, Lucid’s implied updated value could exceed $ 40 billion. Most SPAC deals are made based on the unit price of $ 10 at which SPACs issue shares.
It’s just not clear whether the $ 12 billion figure is the current valuation or the valuation the deal was struck at. There are simply too few details. Churchill and Lucid were not immediately available to comment on today’s report.
EV maker
Fisker
(FSR), for comparison, is estimated to be approximately $ 6 billion, based on the 294 million fully diluted shares outstanding. Fisker plans to offer an SUV worth about $ 40,000 by 2022.
Lucid plans to target the very high end of the automotive market. It starts with an ambitious EV model that can cost more than $ 165,000 and boasts 1,080 horsepower, fast charging times and more than 500 miles of range on a single charge. The first high-end Lucids could hit the streets later this year before the company produces low-cost luxury cars in 2022.
Expectations for Lucid products are high. Churchill stock is up more than 400% in the past three months, pushing the comparable return of the
S&P 500
and
Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Write to Al Root at [email protected]