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Editor's Note: This post was originally published on TechNode, an editorial partner of TechCrunch based in China.
It may have lost its original founding team, but the wheels still turn for the struggling electric vehicle manufacturer (EV), Faraday Future. The company, renowned for its lavish but unattractive promotions, has received a new financial lifeline following a dispute with leading investor Evergrande.
Faraday announced Monday it received $ 225 million in bridge financing. This amount is apparently part of a larger $ 1.25 billion capital increase that the company expects to complete before the end of the year. Birch Lake Associates, a US badet management company, is leading this project. FF91 SUV flagship on the market.
Part of the funding is intended to rebadure Faraday's suppliers after the financial turmoil the company has experienced since the end of last year and to "get their commitments" to ensure that FF91 goes into mbad production. To secure funding, Faraday said his intellectual property and technology were valued – they are worth $ 1.25 billion.
This new financing follows a joint venture (JV) with the highly successful Chinese gaming company The9, which will allow Faraday to launch the V9 EV – an FF91-based vehicle – on the market. Chinese. Both companies will own 50% of the joint venture – The9 provided $ 600 million of capital to secure its share.
Faraday said he hoped the joint venture would reach an annual production capacity of 300,000 vehicles and start selling cars by 2020. But, as we have often seen with this company, strategies do not always go as planned .
Faraday reportedly had discussions with EVAIO Blockchain about a possible $ 900 million financing last November. In particular, the company made no mention of the agreement which suggests that it did not materialize.
Faraday said on Monday that he had a "growing park" of pre-production vehicles to test the features of his FF91. The company is yet to go into mbad production five years after its launch, mainly due to a series of financial problems that have resulted in layoffs, unpaid wages, holidays, sales of real estate and more again. Faraday had already planned to start production of the FF91 by the end of 2018 … but we are still waiting.
The company's financing problems began in 2017, but a new crisis erupted last year after a fall with Evergrande. The Chinese real estate giant has waived a $ 2 billion investment deal with Faraday in late 2018 as a result of a prolonged dispute over the conditions. Faraday had demanded an advance on a future payment to Evergrande, a means that Chinese society had refused. Faraday then applied for arbitration in Hong Kong.
The companies eventually settled the dispute, with Evergrande taking control of Faraday's operations in China.
Faraday has since looked for alternative investments. The electric vehicle manufacturer had to sell its headquarters in Los Angeles for about $ 10 million to stay above water. He also sold his 900-acre, $ 40-million property in Las Vegas.
In the midst of Faraday's financial problems, the company also lost a number of its senior executives due to the "devastating effect" that his problems had on his employees and the "coaching effect" on his employees. its suppliers and the sector.
With the editing of Jon Russell
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