Lopez completes sale of 2.66% Meralco stake

MANILA, Philippines - First Philippine Utilities Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Lopez family’s First Philippine Holdings Corp. (FPHC), said the sale of its 2.66-percent stake in Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), equivalent to 30 million shares, was crossed at the stock exchange yesterday.

FPHC said the shares were transferred to Beacon Electric Asset Holdings Inc., leaving the Lopez group with around 3.9 percent stake in the power utility giant. The deal was valued at P8.85 billion.

The acquisition boosts Beacon’s beneficial interest in Meralco to 45.36 percent. Beacon is the joint venture company of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., both units of First Pacific Co. Ltd. of Hong Kong.

The Lopez Group will continue to retain a seat in Meralco after the transaction is completed, as a result of an amendment in its cooperation agreement signed last March 30, 2010 with Metro Pacific.

Meralco is also partly-owned by diversifying conglomerate San Miguel Corp., whose interest is at least 27 percent.