Lopez family has no plans of selling remaining Meralco stake

MANILA, Philippines - The Lopez Group is keeping its remaining 13.4 percent stake in Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) at the moment and has not offered its holdings to any group amid reports of a continuing battle for control over the country’s largest power distribution firm.

“We have not offered our remaining Meralco shares to any group,” said Benjamin Lopez, First Philippine Holdings Corp. (FPHC) vice-president, in a text message yesterday.

Lopez said that in the event that the group decides to sell out of Meralco, the PLDT Group led by telecommunications magnate Manuel V. Pangilinan has the “right of first refusal” over the family’s stake as part of a deal struck between the two groups in March. This means that PLDT has the right to purchase the shares before the offering is made available to others.

Family patriarch Oscar Lopez earlier said the Lopez group was open to selling its remaining stake in Meralco if needed. “We don’t have any immediate plans to sell (the remaining shares in Meralco), but it could be sold if the price is right,” Lopez was quoted as saying to reporters in May.

Once the largest shareholder in Meralco, FPHC had cut its stake to a mere 13.4 percent after selling a 20 percent block to PLDT for P20 billion. This has substantially made the PLDT Group the single biggest shareholder of Meralco.

The move was meant to thwart a looming takeover by San Miguel Corp., which last year bought a 27 percent stake in Meralco. It was San Miguel’s first successful foray into the power sector as it diversified into heavy industry to spur future growth.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) yesterday, San Miguel said it is interested in raising its stake in Meralco and is now in talks with a Japanese investor to carry out its planned purchase of additional shares of the utility firm in the event it is invited to participate in the sale of the Lopez family’s remaining shareholdings.

San Miguel, together with its allies, reportedly holds 43 percent in Meralco while the PLDT/First Pacific group is believed to have acquired nearly 51 percent of the power firm.

Pangilinan earlier said his group is willing to buy more shares in the power company. “We are open to any shareholder who wishes to dispose of their interest (in Meralco).”

“We might be willing to buy,” Pangilinan earlier said.

He also earlier said the PLDT Group — which is engaged in telecommunications, information technology, infrastructure, healthcare, among others — always seeks to own majority of companies they buy into.

Majority shareholdings translate to control of the company’s board and how the company conducts its business.