Ex-Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam Freedom Acquisition Sued by SPAC Partner Edward Zeng China Bridge Capital for Refusing to Pay $6 Million in Advisory Fees for SPAC Merger with Solar Business Complete Solaria
10th February 2024 | Hong Kong
Former Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam Nasdaq-listed SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Company) Freedom Acquisition I Corp has been sued by SPAC partner Edward Zeng China Bridge Capital for refusing to pay $6 million in advisory fees for SPAC merger with solar business Complete Solaria. In July 2023, Freedom Acquisition I Corp merged with solar company Complete Solaria, with the merged company trading on Nasdaq on 18th July 2023. More info below:
“ Ex-Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam Freedom Acquisition Sued by SPAC Partner Edward Zeng China Bridge Capital for Refusing to Pay $6 Million in Advisory Fees for SPAC Merger with Solar Business Complete Solaria “
Former Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam Nasdaq-Listed SPAC Freedom Acquisition I Corp Merged with Solar Company Complete Solaria
21st July 2023 – Former Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam Nasdaq-listed SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Company) Freedom Acquisition I Corp has merged with solar company Complete Solaria, with the merged company trading on Nasdaq on 18th July 2023. In 2023 April, Tidjane Thiam (2015 – 2020) filed charges for an Instagram extortion attempt, having recently successfully indicted another 2 individuals for blackmail & extortion. Tidjane Thiam: “I wanted to let you know that there has been an attempt at extortion against me on Instagram. I have pressed charges with the relevant authorities for use of false identity and blackmail. It is not the first time in my career or my life that I am targeted by dishonest people. I have recently been able to have two people indicted who attempted to blackmail and extort me in two different geographies. Cybersecurity experts have been advising me and are busy trying to get to the bottom of this. I thank you for your support and understanding. I will keep you posted.” Tidjane Thiam was former Credit Suisse CEO from 2015 to 2020, leaving in 2020 for an industry espionage scandal. Prior, he was Prudential Group Chief Executive (2009 – 2015), Aviva Europe CEO, McKinsey Partner, and was a young professional at the World Bank and Secretary of Development & Planning for Ivory Coast. Tidjane Thiam is currently a Non-Executive Director of a media group (Publicis Groupe), Board Advisor on the Council on Foreign Relations (Think-Tank), Member of International Olympic Committee (IOC), Chairman of Audit Committee at Kering, and Executive Chairman of a SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Vehicle, Freedom Acquisition I Corporation). More info below.
Former Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam Nasdaq-Listed SPAC Freedom Acquisition I Corp Merged with Solar Company Complete Solaria
- Complete Solaria is a differentiated solar company, with unique technology and end-to-end solar solutions, which includes financing, project fulfilment and customer service. Complete Solaria’s digital platform together with premium solar products provide a one-stop service for customers.
- The transaction generated committed capital of more than $80 million in gross proceeds including capital from existing public shareholders of Freedom Acquisition I Corp., PIPE investors and investors pursuant to forward purchase agreements.
- The business combination will support Complete Solaria’s goal to continue to scale to meet solar demand, further supporting the acceleration of the global energy transition.
- Complete Solaria’s organic growth is expected to be strong through 2024, as its asset light model, secure supply network, and additional macro tailwinds support the Company’s strong investment and value creation profile.
18th July 2023 – Complete Solaria’s common stock and warrants will trade on The Nasdaq Stock Market (“Nasdaq”) under the symbols “CSLR” and “CSLRW”, respectively. The Company will continue to be led by Will Anderson, Chief Executive Officer, and Brian Wuebbels, Chief Financial Officer, alongside the rest of the current Complete Solaria management team. The transaction was approved by Freedom’s shareholders at an extraordinary general meeting held on July 11, 2023 (the “Special Meeting”). Votes representing over 76.9% of the issued and outstanding ordinary shares of Freedom were cast in favor of approving the business combination. Freedom shareholders also voted to approve all other proposals presented at the Special Meeting.
“This is an exciting step for Complete Solaria,” said Will Anderson, Chief Executive Officer of Complete Solaria. “This transaction will help Complete Solaria scale rapidly and meet the current demand we are seeing from our clients who desire to reduce high energy bills and contribute to a more sustainable future. We could not have reached this point without the dedication and support of our employees, customers and partners, for whom we are grateful. Thank you all.”
Tidjane Thiam, Executive Chairman of Freedom, added, “We are delighted to have merged our SPAC, Freedom Acquisition I Corp., with Complete Solaria and to see Complete Solaria set to start trading. Technological progress during the last 40 years has made solar a uniquely competitive and climate friendly source of energy. We are very excited about Complete Solaria’s growth prospects in the US where it will now be active in 49 states. In addition, the development prospects of solar in Europe, the Middle East and Africa are enormous and are expected to add to Complete Solaria’s growth over time. We believe Complete Solaria will generate strong returns for its investors as well as material benefits for society.”
About Complete Solaria – Complete Solaria is a solar company with unique technology and end-to-end customer offering, which includes financing, project fulfilment and customer service. Complete Solaria’s digital platform together with premium solar products enable one-stop service for clean energy needs for customers wishing to make the transition to a more energy-efficient lifestyle.
Freedom Acquisition Corp. 1 was established by Tidjane Thiam, Adam Gishen and Abhishek Bhatia to leverage their extensive experience in acquiring, building, operating and scaling global financial services businesses in constantly evolving environments. Mr. Thiam, with his more than 30 years of experience in financial services businesses, led global institutions like Credit Suisse and Prudential as CEO for 5 years and 6 years, respectively. Mr. Gishen has over 20 years of experience in financial services and has held senior leadership responsibilities in recent years at Credit Suisse running its Global Investor Relations and Corporate Communications functions. Mr. Bhatia has more than 20 years of global experience in life and general insurance and asset management and has created businesses from scratch, including a technology-enabled life insurer in Europe and a full-stack digital insurer in Asia for which he served as CEO.
Former Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam Filed Charges for Instagram Extortion Attempt, Recently Successfully Indicted Another 2 Individuals for Blackmail & Extortion
20th April 2023 –Former Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam (2015 – 2020) has filed charges for an Instagram extortion attempt, having recently successfully indicted another 2 individuals for blackmail & extortion. Tidjane Thiam: “I wanted to let you know that there has been an attempt at extortion against me on Instagram. I have pressed charges with the relevant authorities for use of false identity and blackmail. It is not the first time in my career or my life that I am targeted by dishonest people. I have recently been able to have two people indicted who attempted to blackmail and extort me in two different geographies. Cybersecurity experts have been advising me and are busy trying to get to the bottom of this. I thank you for your support and understanding. I will keep you posted.” Tidjane Thiam was former Credit Suisse CEO from 2015 to 2020, leaving in 2020 for an industry espionage scandal. Prior, he was Prudential Group Chief Executive (2009 – 2015), Aviva Europe CEO, McKinsey Partner, and was a young professional at the World Bank and Secretary of Development & Planning for Ivory Coast. Tidjane Thiam is currently a Non-Executive Director of a media group (Publicis Groupe), Board Advisor on the Council on Foreign Relations (Think-Tank), Member of International Olympic Committee (IOC), Chairman of Audit Committee at Kering, and Executive Chairman of a SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Vehicle, Freedom Acquisition I Corporation).
Former Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam Filed Charges for Instagram Extortion Attempt
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