CCIV SPAC target Lucid Motors counts the Saudi sovereign wealth fund among its early and biggest investors
Shares ofChurchill Capital(NYSE:CCIV) are on the move up again in pre-market trading on Thursday morning as investors react to news of the latest development in Saudi Arabia’s nascent e-mobility infrastructure. CCIV stock surged 7.8% on Wednesday.
Earlier today it was reported that Schneider Electric Saudi Arabia and GREENER by IHCC have signed a partnership agreement to develop e-mobility infrastructure.
Any electric vehicle news from the Kingdom is under close watch by investors. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is an anchor investor for U.S.-based EV manufacturer Lucid Motors, which is set to come public in a SPAC merger with CCIV. The sovereign wealth fund announced its first investment of $1 billion in Lucid in September 2018.
Lucid is scouting out locations for retail sales outlets in the Kingdom, and aims to get them up and running by the end of 2021 or early 2022, CEO Peter Rawlinson told Arab News earlier this year.
CCIV Stock Gained on Biden Infra Plan
Wednesday’s surge in CCIV stock was stoked by reports that President Joe Biden is looking at ending a legal battle with California over regulation of motor-vehicle emissions. California is the largest auto market in the U.S. and has been a leader in setting some of the strictest regulations in the country. A waiver under the Clean Air Act allowed California’s stricter regulations to become the “de facto national standard.”
Accordingly, auto manufacturers petitioned President Donald Trump for relief from these standards. The Trump administration provided this relief, reinstating federal fuel economy standards and limiting the legal authority of states to set their own fuel-economy standards.
Biden is now looking at reversing this decision. By doing so, investors believe that stricter fuel emissions standards will directly benefit EV makers like Lucid Motors.