Lopezes remain undecided on Meralco stake

As of late Thursday, the Lopez group’s power and infrastructure holding company remains undecided over the fate of its stake in the Philippines’ largest electric company.

First Philippine Holdings Corp. has yet to announce its intentions regarding its 13.4 percent stake in the Manila Electric Co., Jay Lopez, the company’s corporate communications head said.

The day before, investors were already expecting that the company would sell its shares to one of two interested groups – Triratna Holdings Corp., which is controlled by Henry Sy Jr., son of the Philippines’ richest man, and the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co.

“The decision will depend on the board," Lopez told reporters.

A board meeting is expected to resume at seven in the evening after it held a recess that begun from twelve in the afternoon up to 3:00 PM.

Board members who attended the meeting included Oscar Lopez, Elpidio Ibañez, Federico Lopez, who are listed as executive directors, according to the company’s website. Non-executive directors who were in the meeting included Augusto Almeda-Lopez, Thelmo Cunanan, Eugenio Lopez III, Ernesto Rufino, Peter Garrucho, Jose De Jesus. Manuel Lopez is abroad.

Shares of First Philippine Holdings surged on Thursday to P58.00, its highest in one year, after Triratna offered to buy its Meralco stake for P44.6 billion.

Shortly after, another Meralco shareholder – Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) – also offered to buy the same stake from First Philippine Holdings or sell its own Meralco stake to Triratna.

On Wednesday, Metro Pacific said it was still examining its options.

Metro Pacific shares closed 3.28 percent higher to P3.15, while Meralco was up 1.84 percent to P221. - GMANews.TV