LUXURY electric vehicle maker Lucid Motors on Monday agreed to go public by merging with blank-check firm Churchill Capital IV Corp in a deal that valued the combined company at a pro-forma equity value of $24 billion. Lucid, run by an ex-Tesla engineer, is the latest firm to tap the initial public offering market, with investors rushing into the EV sector, spurred by the rise of Tesla Inc and with emissions regulations toughening in Europe and elsewhere. The deal, which has a transaction equity value of $11.75 billion, includes a $2.1 billion cash contribution from CCIV and a PIPE (private investment in public equity) investment of 2.5 billion from investors. Other prominent players in the sector went public through mergers with so-called special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) last year. While some deals such as Fisker have delivered well, others such as Nikola have given up short-term gains. Reuters was first to report last week that Michael Klein had launched a ... » Learn More about Tesla rival Lucid Motors to go public in US$24b mega SPAC deal