Aichi Motors, deeply mired in financial and debt crises, has ushered in the dawn of "revival"?
Recently, a reporter from the Daily Economic News learned through the website of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that on May 14th, Hudson Acquisition I Corp. (stock code: HUDA), a SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Company) company listed on NASDAQ, announced that the company had signed a business merger agreement (hereinafter referred to as the agreement) with Aiways Automobile Europe GmbH (hereinafter referred to as Aiways Europe), which means that Aiways Europe may go public on the US stock market through a "reverse acquisition listing".
US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) website
According to the agreement, shareholders of Aichi Automotive Europe will receive newly issued Hudson Acquisition I Corp. common shares with an estimated equity valuation of approximately $400 million. The transaction is expected to be completed around December 31, 2024. "The strategic positioning of the new entity will be to leverage our foresight and resources in the European electric vehicle market," said Alexander Carsten Klose, General Manager of Aichi Europe.
However, compared to the development prospects of Aichi Automobile in the European market, the outside world may be more concerned about whether its debt dispute can be resolved through this. A source close to Aichi Motors told reporters that Aichi Europe is nominally a subsidiary of Aichi Motors, but it is relatively independent in terms of operation and finance.
Regarding the latest action by Aichi Europe, the reporter attempted to contact Guo Chao, Chairman of Aichi Automobile Co., Ltd., and Fu Qiang, co-founder of Aichi Automobile. However, as of the reporter's press release, the other party has not responded.
Aichi Europe will pay over 14 million yuan in three installments
In fact, Aichi Automobile has been striving for financing and has previously sought to go public through an IPO. In June 2021, it was revealed that Aichi Automobile had planned to land on the Science and Technology Innovation Board, but to no avail.
Compared to the traditional IPO model, the SPAC model is faster to go public, has lower costs, and has a simpler process. There have been precedents for automobile companies to go public through the SPAC model, such as Faraday Future and Polestar, which both listed on the US stock market through the SPAC model.
In 2022, Aichi Automobile had planned to go public in the United States as a reverse shell education and training company, Huaxia Boya. According to the terms of the letter of intent, the total valuation of Aichi Automobile ranges from 5 billion to 6 billion US dollars. After the acquisition is completed, all equity of Aichi Automobile will be converted into common stock of the listed company. But in 2022, Aichi Automobile was exposed to difficulties in cash flow, followed by problems such as unpaid wages, difficulty in receiving payments from suppliers, and unpaid office rental fees, property fees, and utility fees. The backdoor listing plan ultimately failed.
And this time, Hudson acquired Company I through a shell, and Aichi Europe also needs to pay corresponding financial costs. According to the agreement disclosed by both parties, Aichi Europe is required to pay SPAC Company $2 million (approximately RMB 14.46 million) in three installments before completing the transaction with SPAC. Among them, before or at the time of signing the agreement, Aichi Europe needs to pay 1 million US dollars, which is non refundable. The other two payments of $500000 need to be completed at the time of SEC filing and closing.
Hudson Acquisition I Corp. Announcement
"Aichi Europe and its subsidiaries have always sought to establish our core strengths to enhance shareholder value. The merger with HUDA is another step in this direction, and we are pleased to continue providing services to our shareholders," said Klich.
More than 218 million yuan of execution information has been added, and the issue of unpaid wages remains unresolved
Compared to Aichi Europe, Aichi Automobile is still deeply embroiled in a debt crisis in China. According to Qichacha information, on May 16th, Aichi Automobile Co., Ltd. added an executed person information, with an execution target of over 218 million yuan, involving a contract dispute case related to Jiangling Holdings Co., Ltd. On May 14th prior to this, Aichi Automobile Co., Ltd. added an executed person information, with an executed target of 47211 yuan. As of the time of the reporter's press release, Aichi Automobile Co., Ltd. had a total of 3 pieces of information regarding dishonest persons being executed, with a failure rate of 100%.
"The unpaid wages have not been paid either." The above-mentioned insiders told reporters that some of the employee salaries and social security provident fund owed by Aichi Automobile last year have not been properly resolved so far.
The insider told reporters that when Aichi Automobile encountered cash flow problems, it had previously used funds from Aichi Europe, and as Aichi Europe's listing approached, its funding gap may be alleviated.
It is worth mentioning that the content of the disclosed agreement between the two parties shows that the person signing on behalf of Aichi Europe is Aichi CEO Zhu Xiaohua. This may mean that despite relatively independent internal operations, Aichi Europe and Aichi Automobile still coexist in a unified management system.
Hudson Acquisition I Corp. Announcement
However, there are also views that the current competition in the new energy vehicle industry is no longer reliant on the "burning money" model to survive. Enterprises need to maintain continuous cash flow while also competing for overall operational efficiency, quality, scale, and system capabilities. For Aichi Automobile, landing in the capital market is only the first step to ensure its survival. Whether it can develop smoothly in the future depends on the market performance of its products.
