Electrical truck startup Nikola is making one other try Thursday to clear a shareholder hurdle to boost new funds – over the objections of its disgraced and now-departed founder.

The long-embattled firm is in search of to boost cash by issuing new inventory, a course of that requires shareholder approval. Nikola’s June 1 annual shareholder assembly was abruptly adjourned after its founder and former CEO and chairman, Trevor Milton, voted towards the proposal.

The corporate has spent the previous month rallying shareholders to vote for the proposal in ample numbers to beat Milton’s “no” vote. The ultimate vote tally might be introduced when Nikola’s shareholder assembly reconvenes at midday ET.

Milton stays Nikola’s largest shareholder. He owns 11% of the corporate’s inventory outright and controls roughly 9% extra through an funding car that he co-owns, giving him efficient management of about 90 million shares in whole.

Votes representing roughly 95 million shares have been solid towards the share-increase proposal as of June 1. Milton’s “no” vote was first reported by Bloomberg.

Nikola is not in pressing want of money, however the flexibility to promote extra inventory is vital to its future. Nikola raised $200 million through a convertible observe challenge in Might, and it had $385 million in money and one other $409 million out there through an fairness line from Tumim Stone Capital as of March 31, for a complete of about $1 billion available.

CFO Kim Brady mentioned in Might that with the convertible observe sale, Nikola had ample money available to fund its operations for at the very least one other yr with out further raises. However the firm is burning about $180 million per quarter, and a share providing was constructed into its plans for later this yr, Brady mentioned on the time.

Approval of the proposal requires “sure” votes from a majority of the corporate’s excellent shares. As of the June 1 assembly, 64% of the entire votes solid have been in favor of the share-increase proposal. However that 64% represented solely 42% of the corporate’s excellent shares, not sufficient to go the measure over Milton’s objection.

Milton, who based the electrical heavy-truck firm in 2015, left Nikola in September of 2020 after short-seller Hindenburg Analysis accused him of creating false statements in regards to the firm’s expertise to buyers. A federal grand jury indicted him on three counts of fraud in 2021, and a fourth rely was added final week. His trial is scheduled to start out in July.

Federal prosecutors have alleged that Milton constructed an elaborate scheme supposed to spice up Nikola’s inventory for his personal achieve, by mendacity in regards to the firm’s expertise, the state of its product growth, and its probably future gross sales prospects.