Microvast has appointed Fariyal Khanbabi as its new CFO. She becomes the third CFO this year, replacing Yasser Ali, who resigned in August after less than two months in the role.

Microvast manufactures lithium-ion batteries for commercial electric vehicles. It has a 1,400,000 sq.ft. factory in Huzhou, China and it is trying to build a 577,000 sq. ft. facility in Clarksville, Tennessee.

Ms. Khanbabi previously served as the CFO and then CEO of Dialight PLC, an LED manufacturing business that was based in the UK but had most of its operations in the US. Prior to that, she was the CFO at Harvest Energy and Britannia Bulk. Ms. Khanbabi is a British citizen and a Chartered Accountant. She will be based out of Microvast’s Houston headquarters once her US visa is granted and will have an annual base salary of $400,000.

Her main task will be to obtain financing to allow construction of the facility in Tennessee to restart. At the beginning of the year, the company estimated that it needed a $150 million loan to fund the completion of the manufacturing plant.

Mircrovast went public via a SPAC in July 2021. Like many companies taken public in this way, its shares are under water and now trade at 21 cents. For the 12 months to June 2024, the company had revenue of $350 million and an operating loss of $85 million.

SEC filing – 8-K Microvast Khanbabi CFO