Asian Tech Press (Sep 27) -- California-based EV startup Faraday Future (NASDAQ:FFIE) raised $100 million for the launch of its flagship FF 91 electric sedan, restructuring its board of directors under founder Yueting Jia's leadership.
Faraday Future Intelligent Electric Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIE), also known as FF, announced on Tuesday that it has reached definitive agreements with FF Top Holding LLC, one of the company's major shareholders, on new financing and board restructuring.
FF Top is an indirectly owned subsidiary of FF Global Partners LLC, which is jointly owned by two dozen FF global partners and former executives, and has an over 20% stake in Faraday Future and about 36% voting rights.
The agreements showed that while Faraday Future received up to $100 million in financing from Daguan International Ltd. (Daguan) and ATW Partners LLC, FF Top and the automaker also formally reache a governance agreement that includes a restructuring of the board, specifically concerning the resignation of executive chairperson Susan Swenson and former chairman Brian Krolicki from all corporate and board positions due to negligence and misconduct.
The good news of Faraday Future's successful board restructuring and smooth financing of $100 million not only means that some malicious independent directors who previously tried to bring the company to the abyss of bankruptcy were purged, but also implies that FF founder Yueting Jia led the company's global partners to save the EV startup from the brink of bankruptcy.
Wall Street analysts believed that the successful restructuring of the board of directors by FF founder Yueting Jia and the FF Global Partners team, the exit of the malicious independent directors, and the smooth financing of over $100 million, meant that the tumor that hindered Faraday Future's take-off was finally completely removed, and its potential was expected to be recognized by the global capital market again.
Faraday Future Successfully Reshuffles the Board, Chairperson Susan and Director Brian to Resign
According to the latest announcement, FF Top and Faraday Future have formally reached a binding governance agreement. Under the agreement, Susan Swenson, the current executive chairperson, and Brian Krolicki, the former chairman and current director, will take the blame and resign, and the board that has blocked the EV maker's financing and the mass production and delivery of the FF 91 Futurist, would be completely restructured after performing its duties unfavorably.
As such, Yueting Jia and the company's global partner team have regained control of Faraday Future, which represents an end to the chaos in board management created by a small group of independent directors since the company went public a year ago.
The Faraday Future board will also undergo a major reorganization after its 2022 annual general meeting of shareholders, the number of directors dropped from 9 to 7. By further strengthening the power to nominate and name directors, founder Yueting Jia and the FF Global Partners team will regain control of the U.S. automaker, which they have lost for more than a year.
Pursuant to the agreement with FF Top, in order to ensure the smooth restructuring of the Faraday Future board, Adam He has formally joined the board and served as a member of the Audit Committee and the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of the Board, participating in the final implementation of the restructuring of the board's governance structure as well as assisting the company in closing the subsequent large-scale financing.
Jordan Vogel, former CEO of Faraday Future's SPAC listing partner PSAC, and the former Lead Independent Director on the Faraday Future board, resigned from the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of the Board on September 23.
Adam He is the Chief Financial Officer of Wanda America Investment Holding Co. Ltd., and has very extensive experience related to IPOs, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), audits, etc. He is a certified public accountant (CPA) in China and New York, holding a bachelor's degree and Master of Science in Taxation from the Central University of Finance and Economics in Beijing and a Master of Science in accounting from Seton Hall University in New Jersey.
Faraday Future Raises Over $100 Million, Receiving Further Recognition from Global Capital Markets
After the recommendation and full support of founder Yueting Jia and the FF Global Partners team, Faraday Future will receive more than $100 million in key financing from Daguan and ATW Partners, as shown in the company's latest announcement.
The series of key financing not only provides sufficient capital for the mass production and delivery of the FF 91 Futurist, but also shows that FF founder Yueting Jia has once again gained the trust and pursuit of global capital markets.
Sources close to the matter said that with the reorganization of the Faraday Future board, the new governance structure and management team will once again bring the EV maker back on track and focus on the delivery of the FF 91 Futurist.
At the same time, a competent and stable governance structure and a good partnership between majority shareholders and the company will pave the way for Faraday Future to secure larger amounts of financing in the future, the sources added.
Although investment institutions from the U.S. and Asia have previously expressed strong willingness to invest in Faraday Future's market potential, the investor groups was very concerned about uncertainty of the company's future due to the destructive management under the current board, which was the core reason for the delay in the U.S. automaker's financing in the past three months, according to SEC filings and media reports.
Now, following the restructuring, the Faraday Future board has completely dispelled the concerns of the capital market and opened up the access to future financing.
Some investors believe that the key financing brought to Faraday Future by founder Yueting Jia along with global partners not only helps the company to temporarily tide over financial difficulties, but more importantly, it gives a shot to the expectation of deliveries of the FF 91 Futurist and reinvigorates the confidence from global capital markets.
U.S. stock analysts opined that since its IPO last year, Faraday Future has been coerced and controlled by capital through malicious means, falling into a bloodthirsty tool of Wall Street traders, and has lost its original intention when it was founded.
Nevertheless, with his persistent belief in Faraday Future's vision, founder Yueting Jia led the FF Global Partners team to set things right and bring the company back to an originally correct development track. FF, which has regained its soul, will surely explode its due market potential and continue to gain the favor and trust of the capital market and user market, the analysts added.
The U.S. analysts also said that the successful restructuring of the board and the implementation of the financing agreement have completely cleared the core obstacles on Faraday Future's short- and long-term growth plans, and that the formation of a qualified and responsible board of directors will act in the interests of shareholders and ensure that shareholders and investors receive a return on their investment and realize the value of their investment while realizing founder Yueting Jia's vision for the industry.
Faraday Future's Market Potential is About to Explode as FF 91 Completes Pre-Market Approval
With a successful board reorganization and over $100 million in financing, investors believe that Faraday Future's market potential will truly explode with the smooth mass production of its flagship FF 91 electric sedan.
Last Wednesday, Faraday Future announced that its flagship FF 91 Futurist EV has been officially certified to have a robust rating of 381 miles of EV range from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and can be marketed for sale. The EPA approval is the final regulatory nod for a vehicle to be licensed for sale in the United States.
This rating is a significant improvement over the company's previous estimates and surpasses the Tesla Model X currently on the market, making it the world's longest-range luxury electric vehicle under EPA standards, people familiar with the matter said.
Now that the FF 91 has secured EPA certification, it means that the most important legal certification process before production of the FF 91 Futurist has been completed, and now only the final SOP milestone needs to be reached before the car can go on sale.
Obviously, the EPA approval is the best positive news for Faraday Future, which experienced a delay in the mass production and delivery of the FF 91 due to the power struggle on the company's board, a sign that the U.S. automaker is about to soon deliver its first flagship product FF 91 Futurist.
It is worth mentioning that, according to media reports, Faraday Future's project of landing in China has also made breakthrough progress, and the company would probably announce the project landing in a city in southern China in the near future.
Industry analysts said that Yueting Jia and the FF Global Partners team, who regained control of Faraday Future, will bring the EV maker into the fast lane of high-speed development, and its future value is full of endless imagination in both capital market and technology industry.
