12 On February 20th, it was revealed that PTT, a state-owned listed company in Thailand, was the investor of Faraday Future (FF) Series A financing, and Niu Gensheng, the founder of Mengniu Group, was the matchmaker of both parties.
It was learned from many sources that in June 5438+February 65438+March, employees of Jia Yueting, the founder of LeTV Group, in FF(Faraday Future), an American electric vehicle startup, were told that the company's A round of financing was in sight. Citing FF employees, Jia Yueting mentioned at the FF internal shareholders' meeting that FF has completed the A-round equity financing of more than 654.38 billion US dollars, and he will become the global CEO and chief product officer of FF.
In June, 1 1, it was reported that the A-round investors of FF were probably overseas funds brought by his domestic friend Jia Yueting. For the report of this crucial financing progress, FF officials stressed that they would not comment, and FF employees did not brush the screen to celebrate. "My heart is still full of anxiety."
According to a source, PTT and FF have allocated USD 30 million to the company after reaching a preliminary cooperation agreement on June 5438+065438+ 10 this year. However, due to the departure of Stefan Krause, CFO of FF, and Ulrich Kranz, CTO, in the middle of 10, the overall investment is now vacillating.
At the end of June 1 1, Stefan Krause said that he had submitted his resignation on June 10+04, and it took effect immediately, instead of being dismissed as FF said in the harsh statement issued on June 1 1.
Stefan Krause said that in the three weeks before his resignation letter was submitted to FF's resignation statement, he had held many negotiations with Jia Yueting, and Jia Yueting still wanted him to come back to work. "After I submitted my resignation, Jia Yueting also told investors that I was still working in the company. I think that's why he insisted that I go back. "
Thailand National Oil Company is a listed oil and gas company owned by Thailand and the largest energy company in Thailand, ranking 155 among Fortune Global 500 enterprises in 20 10.
On August 20 16, PTT signed contracts with six automobile manufacturers, namely BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Porsche and Volvo, to develop electric vehicle business. PTT is responsible for establishing an electric vehicle charging network with 20 charging stations, while the six automobile manufacturers it cooperates with are responsible for developing electric vehicles and opening up the market in Thailand.
Thailand is an important industrial production and export place in Southeast Asia, and the automobile industry accounts for 65,438+00% of Thailand's GDP. The Thai government plans to increase the output of electric vehicles to 6.5438+200,000 in 2036. In order to stimulate the development of the electric vehicle industry, the Thai government has introduced policies such as tax reduction.
If the A round of financing is in place, FF will avoid immediately repaying the $400 million convertible bonds due at the end of 20 17. However, FF still faces challenges.
Although FF's product concept has been recognized by some industry experts, FF's Series A financing first needs to repay hundreds of millions of dollars in debt, which is also an important reason why many investors were discouraged at that time.
The ups and downs of FF's development path in the past year have also led to a serious brain drain. It is reported that Stefan Krause, Ulrich Kranze, Richard Kim, former chief designer of FF, Sohel Merchant, former head of FF vehicle engineering, and Bill Strickland, former head of FF production line, have established an electric vehicle company called Evelozcity.
According to the report, Steve Osario, former head of FF design and operation department, and Steven orphoot, former FF executive, founded the electric vehicle company Indi EV in the autumn of 20 17. Jalopnik claims that Indi EV has at least 10 former FF employees, and the company is supported by China Capital.
I hope that the company can save itself, and I hope that similar companies can save themselves. Investors see hope!