PIF plans to invest in Tesla rival Lucid Motors: report

Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) is in talks to invest in Lucid Motors, a US-luxury electric vehicle startup, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

PIF and Lucid Motors have drawn up a term sheet under which the former is planning to invest more than $1 billion in Lucid Motors and obtain majority ownership.

PIF’s first investment in Lucid Motors would be for $500 million, with subsequent cash injections coming in two stages that are contingent on the American startup hitting certain production milestones, sources added.

The talks between PIF and Lucid Motors may not result in a deal, they warned.

Earlier this month, Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk said in a blog post that the PIF had approached the company with an offer to help take it private.

Musk said he is working with Silver Lake and Goldman Sachs as financial advisors, and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and Munger, Tolles & Olson as legal advisors on potentially taking the company private.

Based in Newark, California, Lucid Motors was founded in 2007 as Atieva by Bernard Tse, a former Tesla vice president and board member, and Sam Weng, a former exec at Oracle Corp and Redback Networks.