Last week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed that Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) could help provide the necessary funding to make the company private. But a new report hints that the PIF could invest its money into a different electric automaker.
Reuters has learned from sources that the PIF is in talks with Lucid Motors about a potential investment. The two have drawn up a term sheet where the PIF could invest more than $1 billion into Lucid Motors and become the majority stakeholder. One source adds that the first investment would only be for $500 million and that subsequent investments would only come if Lucid Motors is able to hit certain production milestones
The sources do caution that the talks may not result in a deal.
Despite the PIF having $250 billion in assets, Reuters says the fund has already made a number of substantial investments into other things such as a $45 billion investment into a giant technology fund. This leaves them with limited funds, which makes the deal with Lucid more appealing. Banks have estimated that Tesla could need up to $72 billion if Tesla pays the $420 per share announced by Musk a few weeks ago. However, the price could drop if current shareholders keep their shares in the private company.
Lucid Motors made a big splash in 2016 with the introduction of the Air. The model made some big promises such as having the interior space of a Mercedes-Benz S-Class and a max range of up to 400 miles on a charge. Lucid was planning to start production of the sedan this year in Arizona. But last year, the company pushed back production to 2019 as they needed to raise more funds.
Source: Reuters
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