First Holdings may sell 19M more Meralco stocks

Lopez-led First Philippine Holdings, Corp. may still sell a portion of its remaining interest in Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), so it can keep at least a 5 percent stake that is equivalent to a board seat, company officials said on Thursday. In a briefing, First Holdings President Elpidio Ibañez said they might still decide to upload roughly 19 million shares, equivalent to 1.7 percent of the distribution utility. First Holdings has a 13.4 percent stake in Meralco, but half of it is about to be sold to Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) for P300 per share, or P22.4 billion, before the end of March next year. But Ibañez said First Holdings was not yet in talks with the camp of businessman Manuel Pangilinan for a possible sale of the 1.7 percent interest. Pangilinan-led Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) holds the right to match the price of the buyer of the remaining shares of First Holdings in Meralco. "We want to keep a presence in Meralco, and 5 percent is the threshold for one board seat," Ibañez told reporters. Even if a 5 percent stake in Meralco would not automatically qualify for one board seat for the Lopez family, Ibañez said the Pangilinan group had agreed to help First Holdings to maintain one seat. First Holdings has two board seats now in Meralco. Under the deal between MPIC and First Holdings, the Pangilinan camp will first lend the Lopez firm P11.2 billion or half of the acquisition cost. The loan, which carries 5 percent interest, will mature on March 31. "The main things we would like to do is of course to reduce our debts and then make strategic investments," Ibañez said. First Holdings has a maturing debt of P12 billion. Proceeds from the MPIC loan, Ibañez said, would be used to "put in an additional P10 billion investment in First Gen and possibly another $20 million in [First Philec Solar Corp.]." On Thursday, Meralco was unchanged at P198. — GMANews.TV