Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and its affiliated entities currently own 58% of the EV maker Lucid Motors.
The sovereign wealth fund first committed $1 billion to Lucid in 2018 to finance development of the Air sedan, construction of its Arizona factory, and the launch of retail operations in North America.
Back then, the kingdom has also pledged to purchase up to 100,000 Lucid EVs as part of the country’s ‘Vision 2030’ program.
After injecting another $1.5 billion a year ago, the total investment in the California-based EV maker is at about $8 billion.
In a new interview with media outlet Semafor, interim Chief Executive Officer Marc Winterhoff said he isn’t aware of any plans to take the company private.
“I don’t know of any ambitions right now to take it private,” Winterhoff said in an interview with Semafor.
“One thing to keep in mind: We are an American company and a global company,” Winterhoff added before warning that the privatisation would transform Lucid into a Saudi carmaker.
“If PIF were to take it private, it would immediately become a Saudi automotive manufacturer — which, outside of the [Gulf] region, would not be the greatest selling point for being a global company,” he said.
“So you actually need to, in my opinion, [keep it] the way it is right now to be seen as a global and an American company,” Winterhoff added.
The interim CEO, who has been replacing Peter Rawlinson since February, said the privatisation is not the “right strategy” for the EV maker.
“Again, I’m not in those discussions, but I think that would not be the right strategy for Lucid,” he stated.
Winterhoff’s comments come months after he dismissed speculation that Lucid’s decision to execute a 1-for-10 reverse stock split was driven by delisting concerns.
In mid-July, a few hours after the move was announced, he said the split “was not the reason” for avoiding a Nasdaq compliance issue.
“The listing happens when you are under $1, correct?” he said. “I don’t think we were anywhere close to below $1.”
The reverse split, which took effect in early September, cut the number of authorized shares tenfold while increasing the price per share by the same multiple.
Lucid shares closed at $2.29 on July 16, a day before the reverse stock split and the Uber and Nuro partnership announcements.
On July 17’s pre-market trading session, the stock soared about 61% to $3.69 immediately after both announcements. If considering the reverse stock split, which later became effective, the stock was trading at $36.90.
Lucid’s stock nevertheless fell nearly 23% in subsequent sessions to a record low of $15.25 — equivalent to $1.525 on a pre-split basis.
Since then, the share price has surged to nearly $25.
Winterhoff, who joined Lucid as chief operating officer in late 2023 and became interim CEO in February, also said the company hasn’t encountered supply-chain disruptions.
“The relationship with Nvidia is very good,” he said. “We also have Qualcomm chips. And the question of any kind of [chips] localization in Saudi Arabia … hasn’t knocked on our doors yet.”
While chip manufacturing isn’t being localized, he said talks are ongoing about producing battery cells in the kingdom.
“What has come up, though, is local production of battery cells,” he said. Asked where Saudi Arabia stands on that plan, he replied, “Pursuing it,” without elaborating.
As of the time of writing, Lucid shares are trading 0.9% lower at $24.54.
