EV Startup Faraday said in SPAC merger talks to go public

Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon / Bloomberg

Faraday & Future Inc., an electric vehicle startup, is in talks to go public through a merger with Property Solutions Acquisition Corp., a company with blank checks, according to people with knowledge on the subject.

The special-purpose acquisition company is looking to raise more than $ 400 million in equity to support the transaction, which is expected to value the combined entity at about $ 3 billion, people said. As with all deals that have not been finalized, the terms may change or the negotiations may collapse.

A spokesman for Faraday did not respond to several requests for comment. A Property Solutions representative declined to comment.

Los Angeles-based Faraday, led by CEO Carsten Breitfeld, was founded by Jia Yueting, an entrepreneur who in October 2019 filed for bankruptcy in the United States after accumulating billions of dollars in personal debt. His efforts to build a business empire in China, covering interests in streaming to TVs, prompted him to borrow against promised shares, leaving him stuck for $ 2.3 billion in claims, according to the document.

Jia emerged from bankruptcy after opening a creditors’ trust and transferring all of his shares in the electric vehicle company to him, he said in July. statement published on the website of the electric vehicle company. He said that up to 10% of the fund will go to compensate shareholders of Leshi Internet & Technology Corp., a unit now withdrawn from its conglomerate, and that he no longer holds any equity interest in Faraday, but remains an employee. The approval of the plan paved the way for the company to work towards its capital financing goals, the company said.

Faraday named Zvi Glasman, the former chief financial officer of Fox Factory Holdings, this month as its CFO. The company said its flagship, known as the FF 91, will be available for sale about a year after a successful financing round closes.