Hyzon Motors ousts CEO Craig Knight as financial probe continues

Hyzon Motors has ousted CEO Craig Knight because of a financial quagmire over how the trucking fuel cell maker reported revenue in China and managed internal financial controls.

Parker Meeks, most recently Hyzon’s chief strategy officer, was named president and interim CEO effective immediately. Knight also was removed as a company director. The board plans to search for a new CEO externally and internally.

“Parker Meeks has the depth and breadth of experience in the energy, infrastructure and transportation sectors to provide the leadership and operational expertise Hyzon needs at this critical juncture in the global energy transition,” Elaine Wong, Hyzon’s lead independent director, said in a news release late Wednesday.

The board also demoted George Gu from executive chairman to non-executive chairman. Gu  will advise Meeks on strategic R&D initiatives.

Hyzon chased SPAC money

The special purpose acquisition company-backed spinoff of Singapore-based Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies also said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it won’t meet a revised deadline to report second-quarter financial results and restate back reports.That could jeopardize its Nasdaq listing.

Hyzon chased SPAC money to expand globally. It merged with Decarbonization Plus Acquisition Corp. in February 2021, receiving more than $550 million in  proceeds when the business combination closed in July 2021.

In the SEC filing, Hyzon said it would be too expensive to accelerate an internal investigation to meet the Nasdaq deadline for late filings of financial results.

“The company anticipates significant changes to the results of operations for the three and six months ended June 30, 2022, as compared to the corresponding periods ended June 30, 2021,” Hyzon said in the filing. “The final dollar impact to the results of operations are not yet determinable due to the ongoing investigation.”

Hyzon said it anticipates a “substantially greater operating loss for the three and six months ended June 30” compared with the same periods a year ago. Non-cash gains from stock warrants and equity securities should result in undetermined net income versus a net loss for the same period in 2021.

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Hyzon Motors tips to lower-than-expected fuel cell revenue

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