NEW YORK and HANOI, Vietnam, Nov. 9, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PHI Group, Inc. (Pink Sheets:PHIL), a U.S. public company engaged in energy and natural resources, announced today that the Company has signed an agreement to partner with HTMI Co., Ltd, a Vietnamese company owning a titanium mine and operating a slag factory in Binh Thuan Province, to increase the annual production capacity to 150,000 metric tonnes per year and upgrade the facilities in order to produce refined titanium products.
According to the agreement, PHI Group will acquire 49% of ownership plus an additional 2% proxy voting right in HTMI and will be responsible for providing the required capital and technology to develop HTMI into a titanium refiner in Vietnam. Home to more than 90% of the total titanium reserves in Vietnam (approximately 660 million metric tons), HTMI is well positioned to become a major refiner of titanium products, including pigments, sponges, ingots and alloys to serve both the Vietnamese domestic and international markets.
HTMI is in the process of updating its historical financial records to comply with the U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and complete an audit as required by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for the closing of this transaction. In addition, both HTMI and PHI Group will have been mutually satisfied with further due diligence results and economic feasibility of this program.
Muon Phan, Chairman of HTMI, commented: "We are pleased to cooperate with PHI Group to reposition our company for further growth and expansion and confident that by operating a refinery we will able to not only create substantial additional value for both companies but also spearhead the future development of the titanium industry in Vietnam."
Henry Fahman, PHI Group's Chairman and CEO, concurred: "We highly value our partnership with HTMI and believe together we can move the titanium industry in Vietnam to the next level to bring about significant economic benefits for shareholders of both companies and contribute to the general welfare of all the constituents in this region."
Safe Harbor: This news release and the featured interview contain forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected on the basis of such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are made based upon management's beliefs, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management pursuant to the "safe-harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
About PHI Group, Inc.
PHI Group, Inc. (website: www.phiglobal.com), a U.S. publicly traded company established in 1982 (Trading symbol: "PHIL"), adopts a double-tracked strategy to address the needs of both conventional energy and renewables and also invests in minerals and other natural resources. The Company's current activities include wood pellet projects in North America, reclamation sand for land extensions in Singapore, Brunei and other Asian countries, coal asset development in Indonesia, oleochemicals in Malaysia, a LPG terminal project and titanium business in Vietnam, and a nickel project in Laos. In addition, the Company also provides M&A advisory and consulting services through its wholly owned subsidiary PHI Capital Holdings, Inc. (www.phicapitalholdings.com)