A report that a merger deal involving Lucid Motors Inc. is near sent shares of the "blank check" company involved soaring on Friday.
The Los Angeles Times cited an unnamed source on Friday who said that a deal "is near completion" between Newark-based Lucid — a rival to Tesla Motors — and New York-based Churchill Capital Corp. IV.
That sent Churchill's stock up more than 25% on Friday, closing at $22.35. That's more than double where it closed on Jan. 10, the day before Bloomberg first reported that the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) was in talks to take Lucid public in a deal that valued the electric luxury car company at up to $15 billion.
Lucid has yet to deliver a car, and its first ones aren't expected to roll out of its new Arizona factory until late this year. But the more than sevenfold explosion in the value of Tesla in the past year has raised hopes for others in the sector.
The first phase of the the Lucid AMP-1, or advanced manufacturing plant, was completed in the fall, and the company said at the time that production was on track to begin there this spring.
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