New York, Oct. 17, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PHI Group, Inc. (www.phiglobal.com) (OTCQB: PHIL), a U.S. diversified holding company focused on mergers and acquisitions and investments in select industries and special situations, today announced that the Company has signed an agreement to acquire a fifty-one percent equity interest in Saigon Pho Palace Joint Stock Company (“SGP”) and plans to pay for the transaction with Preferred Stock of PHI Group, Inc. or a promissory note that may be convertible into shares of a subsidiary of the Company.

According to the agreement, SGP, its majority shareholder(s) and the Company will enter into a stock swap agreement to exchange 51% of SGP’s stock for Preferred Stock of PHI Group or for a promissory note that may be convertible into shares of a PHI Group’s subsidiary which will be set up as the holding company for the acquisition. The amount of Preferred Stock of PHI Group or the value of the convertible note to be issued for the exchange of the equity interest in SGP will be based on the results of a valuation of SGP’s business by a professional, independent appraisal firm. SGP will also engage a PCAOB-registered accounting firm to audit its financial statements and expects to provide information about its historical operating results according to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) within sixty days.

The Company will form a wholly owned subsidiary as the special purpose vehicle to hold the majority interest in SGP and, subject to meeting all necessary compliance requirements, file a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to take this subsidiary public in the US Stock Market in the future to create a platform for SGP’s growth and expansion.

SGP Palace (www.saigonphopalace.com) has an excellent track record in the field of hospitality, construction and real estate investment and is currently developing a number of prominent projects in Ho Chi Minh City and other locations in Vietnam. It has been successfully operating a chain of restaurants that cater to wedding banquets and convention events and plans to build thirty-five more restaurants of this type by 2025. It is estimated that this market segment in Vietnam generates approximately $8 billion in revenue a year. In addition, SGP also has plans to build new chains of 50 “SGP Bulkoki” restaurants by 2025 and 200 “SGP X-N Coffee” shops by 2027.

Quy Minh Le, Chairman and General Director of SGP Palace, stated: “ We are very pleased to collaborate with PHI Group to access international capital markets to further our growth and expansion. We strongly believe that with proper financial resources we would be able to capture 20-30% of this $8 billion market segment in the next five to seven years and create very significant value for our shareholders.”

Henry Fahman, Chairman and CEO of PHI Group, said, “We are delighted to partner with SGP’s talented, professional and responsive leaders and look forward to bringing about substantial benefits for both companies in the near future.”

Recently, the Company also released a corporate video highlighting the Company’s growth plans. To watch the video, click here: https://youtu.be/J1WwdFV3w9k

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About PHI Group, Inc.

PHI Group (www.phiglobal.com) primarily focuses on mergers and acquisitions and invests in select industries and special situations that may substantially enhance shareholder value. In addition, the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary, PHI Capital Holdings, Inc. (www.phicapitalholdings.com) provides M&A consulting services and assists companies to go public and access international capital markets. We have also been working diligently to launch a Luxembourg Reserved Alternative Investment Fund (RAIF) plus several sub-funds and developing an Asia Diamond Exchange in Vietnam together with international partners.

Safe Harbor Act and Forward-looking Statements

This news release contains “forward-looking statements” pursuant to the “safe-harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. “Forward-looking statements” describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as “may,” “future,” “plan” or “planned,” “will” or “should,” “expected,” “anticipates,” “draft,” “eventually” or “projected,” which are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors.