According to a Reuters report, the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF) is in talks to invest in Lucid Motors. This comes following an earlier report that Tesla is looking to go private with the backing of the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund.
Sources say the PIF and Lucid Motors have drawn up a term sheet whereby the former would invest more than US$1 billion in the latter in exchange for a majority ownership. The funds would come in stages, with the first investment being US$500 million followed by subsequent cash injections depending on company performance.
The PIF’s decision to invest in tech companies comes as a need to diversify its investment portfolio away from oil-dependent industries. The fund is said to have cash reserve of around US$250 billion, with a good chunk (US$45 billion) already sunk into Japan’s SoftBank Group.
Should the deal be confirmed, Lucid Motors would gain the necessary funding to follow though on production of its first model. In 2016, the company introduced the Air, a luxury sedan EV with a claimed range of 640 km and output of 1,000 hp. The vehicle would be built at a new US$700 million facility in Casa Grande, Arizona but that goal has been pushed back to 2020 due to a lack of funds.
GALLERY: Lucid Motors Air
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
Oh man, its good to be Rich. Its better if U are filthy rich bcoz U can buy into anything like a Mega Yacht, Diamond’s or in this case, Lucid Motors.