Saudi Arabia’s PIF to invest additional $915m in Lucid

Lucid Group Inc. has entered into an agreement with its majority stockholder, and a unit of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), for an additional investment worth $915 million, the American electric vehicle company said in a statement.

PIF affiliate Ayar Third Investment Company (Ayar) will purchase shares in one or more private placements through March 31, 2023.

In addition, the company may offer $600 million worth of shares under the equity distribution agreement, the statement said.

Lucid plans to use the net proceeds for general corporate purposes, which may include capital expenditures and working capital.

Meanwhile, the luxury electric vehicle maker’s revenue rose to $195.5 million in the third quarter of 2022 after it delivered 1,398 vehicles, up from 679 last quarter.

Net loss widened to $670.2 million from $524.4 million a year earlier. 

The company said orders for its luxury electric cars slipped in the third quarter from the second, partly due to canceled orders and people fearing long waiting period.

The company had more than 34,000 orders in the reported period, down 3,000 reservations from the second quarter, after it delivered about 1,400 vehicles.

Lucid said it had $3.85 billion in cash, which would sustain the company at least into the fourth quarter of next year.

The company’s chief finance officer Sherry House told Reuters that Lucid would tap into the capital markets as it looks to build a factory in Saudi Arabia.

PIF, Lucid’s largest shareholder with a 61 percent stake, said last week that it would make electric cars in the kingdom under a joint venture named Ceer with Apple Inc supplier Foxconn.

“There’s no direct collaboration (with Ceer) technically, but I think there is a synergistic direction in terms of leveraging supply chain efficiencies,”  Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson told Reuters.