Sustainability

Lucid taps PIF backer for $1.5bn cash injection

August 6, 2024, 9:19 AM

A Lucid vehicle in production. Electric vehicle usage in Saudi Arabia is still extremely low

Majority stockholder Ayar steps up
Liquidity until end of next year
Shares in EV maker rise 6%

Saudi-backed US electric vehicle maker Lucid is to receive a cash injection of $1.5 billion from its majority stockholder Ayar Third Investment Company, an affiliate of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

“The additional $1.5 billion commitment by an affiliate of the PIF announced today is expected to provide sufficient liquidity into at least the fourth quarter of 2025,” Gagan Dhingra, interim chief financial officer and principal accounting officer at Lucid, said.

It is the second time this year that Lucid has tapped Ayar for funding.

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In March the Saudi company agreed to buy $1 billion of a newly created series of convertible stock via private placement – a sale of stock shares or bonds to pre-selected investors and institutions rather than publicly on the open market.

The latest investment is made up of two agreements with Ayar. One will see Ayar purchase $750 million of convertible preferred stock, while the other is in the form of a $750 million unsecured loan.

Shares in Nasdaq-listed Lucid rallied 6 percent in the extended session on Monday.

PIF has invested billions in Lucid as part of a strategy of backing green industries, though EV usage in Saudi Arabia is still extremely low.

The Silicon Valley-based technology company, which is 60 percent owned by PIF, reported second-quarter revenue of $200.6 million on deliveries of 2,394 vehicles and expects to manufacture 9,000 vehicles in 2024.

Lucid ended the second quarter with around $4.3 billion of liquidity.

In Saudi Arabia imports of EVs rose sharply in 2023, but to a total of only 779 vehicles, despite government hopes that it can become a green economy leader through the manufacture and use of electric cars.

On May 2 Lucid signed a memorandum of understanding with King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology to boost EV technology’s adaptability to the tough Gulf climate and encourage more use.