Faraday Future: Their house is on fire once more
Things are back to normal at Faraday Future, only their normal is chaos. In summer all seemed better, after the electric car startup secured a 2BN dollar deal with Evergrande Health. But now both sides blame the other for trying to break the deal and on top there are rumours that the first FF91 car went up in flames.
Faraday Future has had financial troubles in the past but those seemed resolved with the latest 2 billion dollar funding injection. Back in June, the Evergrande Health Industry Group had agreed to take over a 45 percent stake in the EV maker and bought it off then investor Season Smart. The deal included an 800 million dollar payment upfront and an agreement to pay the 1.2BN dollars outstanding at a later date reportedly.
It is that later date which has brought about a fresh row that has led Faraday Future trying to back out of the deal and essentially regain control over their company and also wanting to look for new investors. FF says their move has become necessary only because Evergrande Health had broken their word first and not paid any more than the initial 800 million dollars which have already been spent in July. A statement by the company then accuses Evergrande of trying to take control over FF: “Evergrande held the payments back to try to gain control and ownership over FF China and all of FF’s IP. At the same time, Evergrande is preventing FF from accepting any immediate financing from other sources.”
Evergrande on the other hand accuses Faraday founder and CEO Jia Yueting of trying to push them out of the deal. They have not firmly denied FF’s claim of an existing promise to inject more money but rather say their board had been “manipulated” by the chairman to advance another 700 million dollars. Evergrande Health say they will take “all necessary actions” to protect their interests.
What is certain is: Faraday Future is back in the mess and again they are dragging business partners in with them. The Verge reports that employees and suppliers have not been paid since July. On top, a pre-series version of the FF91 electric car that had been made in the freshly retooled factory in Hanford is said to have caught fire after a company event in September, the Verge claims quoting former Faraday Future workers.
0 Comments