SMC willing to sell Meralco stake

MANILA, Philippines - San Miguel Corp. (SMC) said it is willing to sell its stake in Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), the country’s largest power distributor.

“We are not actively selling. But if you tell me that someone wants to buy it, come forward at that whatever price. I can easily decide on that in five minutes, I will give them terms,” said SMC president and chief operating officer Ramon S. Ang.

Rumors that SMC is exiting Meralco pushed share prices of the power distributor higher, closing at P388.80 yesterday, the high end of the 52-week high of P392.

SMC owns around 36 percent of Meralco, making it one of the top shareholders in the company. Beacon Electric Asset Holdings, Inc., a subsidiary of Pangilinan-led Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC), controls nearly 50 percent of Meralco.

Ang said Meralco is currently trading at good prices, with SMC willing to let go of the dividends it enjoys from Meralco.

However, Ang said: “I have not bought or sold any of those Meralco shares in the past two or three years.”

On Wednesday, MPIC chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said the infrastructure conglomerate is not averse to increasing its stake in Meralco.

In October 2008, the Government Service Insurance System sold 300.963 million common shares equivalent to 27 percent stake in the country’s largest power distributor worth P30 billion, including interest, to then-diversifying SMC.

However, Pangilinan’s group partnered with the Lopez family to secure a controlling block in Meralco, which is expanding into power generation in the Philippines and in Singapore.