U.S.-based SPAC (special purpose acquisition company), Churchill Capital Corp IV (NYSE: CCIV), has witnessed its stock price jump over 36% in the past six months. As usual on Wall Street, there’s a reason for this, and in an event that is becoming more and more common, it’s about the electric vehicle (EV) market.
This article was originally written by MyWallSt. Read more insights from the MyWallSt team here.
What is Churchill Capital Corp IV?
Churchill Capital IV is a blank-check company formed by Wall Street veteran Michael Klein, one of the most prominent figures in the SPAC game alongside Chamath Palihapitiya and Bill Foley.
In Klein’s own words, Churchill Capital’s strategy is:
“To identify and complete our initial business combinations with a company in an industry that complements the experience and expertise of our management team, Board of Directors and Operating and Strategic Partners who are comprised of a group of individuals from leading Fortune 500 Companies.”
Churchill Capital Corp I was originally founded in 2018 and merged with Clarivate Analytics Plc, before Klein opted to sponsor 3 more SPAC’s. Churchill Capital II is not yet affiliated with any merger, while Churchill Capital Corp III announced a definitive agreement to merge with MultiPlan, Inc. last year. That brings us to number IV.
Why is Churchill Capital Corp IV stock up?
The SPAC is rising off the back of rumors that it is going to put Tesla in the ground through its merger with Lucid Motors. Wall Street believes that the company is going to try and take on Elon Musk et al. by teaming up with California-based Lucid Motors.
The merger is expected to be completed this Friday, July 23. When the deal goes through, CCIV stock, which you can buy right now, will convert to LCID on the Nasdaq this Friday.
What does a Lucid Motors merger mean?
Realistically, Tesla has not had any real pure-play EV competition in the U.S. since its inception. While the likes of NIO in China could prove to be eventual competitors, they are not quite at Tesla’s level, while at home, Nikola has all but been laughed off the stage.
In comes Lucid Motors, another California-based EV pure-play that has just finished completion of a $700 million factory, and is on schedule to start delivering its first vehicle, the luxury Lucid Air sedan, in the second half of 2021. Initially, its new factory will have the capacity to produce 30,000 vehicles a year, with the goal of eventually getting to an annual capacity of 400,000 vehicles by 2027.
Of course, EV investors will still be wary following the aforementioned ‘laughing-off-the-stage’ of Nikola Motors. Therefore, Churchill Capital and Lucid Motors will have a long road ahead to building an EV empire as worshipped as Tesla. Without even a car delivered, Lucid Motors is no threat to Tesla yet, SPAC or not, but it’s definitely one for investors to watch should when the deal goes through this week.
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