The US securities regulator has asked Lucid for documents related to an investigation into its blank-check deal, joining a growing list of companies that have come under scrutiny for their merger with shell entities, reported Reuters.
“The investigation appears to concern the business combination between the Company (Churchill Capital Corp. IV) and Atieva Inc and certain projections and statements,” Lucid said in a regulatory filing.
Lucid’s deal with veteran dealmaker Michael Klein’s blank-check firm earlier this year gave the combined company a pro-forma equity value of $24 billion, making it one of the biggest deals with Special Purpose Acquisition Companies.
Market listing via SPAC route has become popular among electric-vehicle (EV) makers that have a vision but no prototype in an already capital intensive industry.
“The problem is a lot of these companies that have taken this approach are not far enough along to really be considered a viable company,” Sam Abuelsamid, auto analyst at Guidehouse Insights, said.
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