Shanghai (ZXZC)- Faraday Future (FF), the California-based electric vehicle (EV) startup with a complicated past, last week set up a subsidiary in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, according to the corporate data platform Tianyancha.

The newborn subsidiary, dubbed Fafa Auto (Zhuhai) Co.,Ltd., involves a registered capital of $250 million and is wholly possessed by FF Hong Kong Holding Limited. It has a line of business covering the sale of new energy vehicles (NEVs) and NEV-related production & testing facilities, the software development and the manufacturing of intelligent in-car equipment.

FF 91; photo credit: FF

The foundation of the Zhuhai-based company came after FF announced in mid-Oct. it had completed the expansion and extension of the senior bridge financing facility put in place in 2019, which includes new senior secured financing of up to $45 million. The startup said the latest financing is made to support the completion and launch of its flagship FF 91 EV and continue development of the FF81.

According to the EV company, the FF 91 will kick off production approximately nine months following the closing of the founding round. The newly announced FF 81 EV and the development preparation for future models and next-generation core technologies will be completed as soon as possible.

Some industry insiders said the Zhuhai company may be established to serve the volume production of FF91 in China.

At the end of 2019, FF's global CEO Carsten Breitfeld was in talk with some Chinese investment organizations and met domestic automakers for the local mass production of FF91 in China, according to some Chinese media reports.

FF aimed to close a deal soon to go public through a reverse merger with a special-purchase acquisition company (SPAC), a media channel reported in mid-Oct, quoting Carsten Breitfeld.

A SPAC is a shell corporation designed to take companies public without going through the traditional IPO process.

However, Breitfeld refused to say who FF was negotiating with or when the deal would close.