(Yicai Global) Nov. 2 -- Faraday Future, the American electric carmaker led by embattled Chinese entrepreneur Jia Yueting, has appointed Stifel to help it secure new financing after its squabble with investor Evergrande Group.

St. Louis-based Stifel will aim to quickly close negotiations between Faraday and potential investors to help the carmaker move out of its financial hardship, a Faraday source told Chinese news site The Paper today. The brokerage will also help secure short-term debt financing for the firm.

Faraday has already held advanced talks with investors from Europe, the United States and the Middle East, the source added.

Jia and Faraday have been stuck in a rut since July, when they expected a USD700 million advance payment from Evergrande subsidiary Evergrande Health Industry Group, but that money never came after the investor claimed Faraday failed to meet specified requirements to qualify for the early payment.

Evergrande originally agreed to pay USD800 million this year and USD600 million this year and next as part of its USD2 billion purchase of a 45 percent stake in Faraday's parent Smart King. It agreed in July to make an advance payment the same month.

The carmaker has since had to lay off staff and cut salaries by 20 percent, with founder and Chief Executive Jia reducing his annual take-home pay to just USD1. It took the matter to an arbitration center in Hong Kong last month, claiming Evergrande was preventing it from securing financing to fill the cash void and seeking to scrap the investor's involvement in Faraday.

Details of the arbitration remain confidential, and both firms gave positive responses to the verdict they received. Faraday claimed Evergrande could no longer prevent it from finding alternative funding, while the investor said Faraday could raise up to USD500 million but under "stringent conditions."

New Money

The upcoming financing will include funding based on equity and current and fixed assets, Faraday said, adding that this will enable the company to resolve its short-, mid- and long-term fundraising needs with its own assets.

But Evergrande will still need to greenlight any deal Faraday looks to take, as it has first right of refusal over the new shares. The valuation of the funding may not come in at less than Evergrande paid per share earlier this year, according to the arbitrator.

The investor has the right to preserve Faraday's assets unconditionally through its stake in Smart King, per the agreement between the two. Evergrande has already invoked this right once according to a report by Tencent, which said it stopped Faraday taking out a short-term loan by stopping it from pledging core assets.

Editor: James Boynton