Lucid Motors Inc. is merging with a blank-check company run by financier Michael Klein that values the combined entity at a pro-forma equity value of $24 billion.
This is the biggest in a series of deals involving electric-vehicle startups cashing in on investor appetite for battery-powered cars.
The carmaker has shied away from comparisons to market leader Tesla Inc., but the public listing positions it to compete for a slice of what’s expected to become a rapidly growing market for EVs.
The deal, which confirms an earlier Bloomberg News report, will generate about $4.4 billion in cash for the 14-year-old company.
It plans to use the newly acquired funds to bring vehicles to market and expand its factory in Arizona.
Lucid is the latest beneficiary from a wave of investment targeting EV startups and next-generation automotive technology suppliers, sparked in part by a rally in Tesla shares over the past year as Wall Street seeks to match up investors with once-private ventures.
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