Electric-car maker Lucid receives subpoena from SEC

06 December 2021 - 15:09 By Reuters
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Lucid has received a subpoena from the US Securities and Exchange Commission seeking documents related to an investigation into its blank-cheque deal.
Lucid has received a subpoena from the US Securities and Exchange Commission seeking documents related to an investigation into its blank-cheque deal.
Image: Lucid Motors

Lucid Group Inc has received a subpoena from the US Securities and Exchange Commission seeking documents related to an investigation into its blank-cheque deal, the luxury electric-car maker said on Monday, sending its shares down about 15%.

“The investigation appears to concern the business combination between the company (Churchill Capital Corp IV) and Atieva Inc and certain projections and statements,” the company said in a regulatory filing.

The deal, which was completed earlier this year, was with veteran dealmaker Michael Klein's blank-cheque acquisition firm. It was one of the biggest in a string of deals with Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) that included electric-vehicle makers such as Nikola Corp and Fisker Inc.

Founded in 2007 as Atieva Inc by former Tesla executive Bernard Tse and entrepreneur Sam Weng, Lucid plans to achieve a production target of 20,000 vehicles in 2022 and 50,000 in 2023.

It was funded initially by Chinese and Silicon Valley venture investors, with additional funding from backers like state-owned Chinese car maker BAIC Motor and Chinese technology company LeEco.


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