What happened
Shares of special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Churchill Capital IV (CCIV.U) were up 30% as of 3:20 p.m. EST, after soaring almost 40% earlier in the session.
So what
The SPAC formed by former Citigroup banker and Wall Street veteran Michael Klein is in talks to take electric vehicle (EV) maker Lucid Motors public through a transaction that could be valued at up to $15 billion, according to Bloomberg.
Lucid Air electric sedan. Image source: Lucid Motors.
Last October, Klein's previous blank-check company, Churchill Capital III, combined with U.S. healthcare company MultiPlan, raising more than $3.6 billion for the provider of healthcare management solutions.
Now what
Lucid is one of the more well-known EV makers not yet trading publicly. Its Lucid Air luxury sedan will be available with over 1,000 horsepower and a battery range of 517 miles. That exceeds Tesla's (TSLA 12.06%) Model S maximum range of 402 miles. Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson worked as chief engineer on the Tesla Model S sedan.
Lucid's first manufacturing facility has been under construction in Arizona leading up to the first production of the Air this spring. The plant will have an initial annual capacity of 30,000 units, with phased expansion planned for up to 400,000 vehicles.
The first model available will be the $161,500 Air Dream Edition. Subsequent models will be in production through early 2022, with the base model Air Pure listed at $69,900.
