Meralco chair confirms rift with brother
By Judith Balea, abs-cbnNEWS.com | 05/26/2009 11:22 PM
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Re-elected Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) chairman and chief executive Manuel Lopez finally broke his silence over the alleged growing rift between him and brother Oscar Lopez due to the sale of a portion of their Meralco stake to the PLDT Group.
For the first time since the issue made it to broadsheets, the younger Lopez himself confirmed that they do have a misunderstanding, but said that this was just normal between siblings.
"Sometimes, in the family, there are really misunderstandings. But these can be worked out. I am confident that someday, we will be able to resolve our differences," he told reporters at the sidelines of Meralco's annual stockholders' meeting on Tuesday.
Lopez declined to comment further, saying "this is a family matter and I want to keep it as such."
He stressed, however, that Meralco would have been their parents' legacy of family unity. "I think at the end of the day, we'll be okay,” he said.
In an earlier press conference, Lopez said he was not privy to the agreement between First Philippine Holdings Corp. (FPHC) and the Manuel Pangilinan-led Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) over the sale of 20 percent of the 33.4 percent stake they had in Meralco.
He said this in passing when asked about the right of first refusal clause in the share sale agreement.
"I know there's a shareholders' agreement between FPHC and PLDT although I'm not privy fully to the context. But yes, I've heard that it contains a right of first refusal," remarked Lopez. “That's FPHC's decision and I'm only one of the 15 directors there." Lopez did not show up in the FPHC's annual stockholders meeting on Monday where he was re-elected as a member of the board.
The family rift has been circulating in business circles after Lopez reportedly got upset upon learning that his older brother Oscar, and nephew Federico, had already finalized a deal with Pangilinan a day before an agreement was signed.
Lopez's son, Mike, also expressed dismay, saying their side of the Lopez family was not consulted about the sale of Meralco, their crown jewel.
The Lopez family, one of Manila's elites, is engaged in diversified businesses, which have already been orderly divided among four siblings. The power generation businesses are housed under FPHC, which is led by the family of Oscar. Media-related businesses are under ABS-CBN, which the heirs of Eugenio II controls. Power retailer Meralco was supposed to be the territory of Manuel's family, but because of its strategic importance to the power generation assets, the Lopez stake in Meralco is under FPHC.
Last March, FPHC, which was assumed as acting in the interest of the Lopez Group, disposed of their substantial stake in the power utility to generate funds to pare down its huge debt.
The family's patriarch, Oscar, later defended the move as a "necessary business decision no matter how painful and difficult it was."
The family now only holds 13.4 percent of Meralco, which FPHC said it would sell if more attractive investment opportunities arise.
If it indeed decides to sell the stake, the agreement with PLDT gives the latter the right of first refusal or the right to purchase the stake before it is offered to a third party.
PLDT's Pangilinan has clarified that this right is mutual between the two groups.
"If at some point, it is us who decide to sell shares, FPHC will also have the right of first refusal," he said.
PLDT owns 30.17 percent of Meralco while another diversified conglomerate, San Miguel, claims to hold 43 percent.
abs-cbnNEWS.com is the online news department of ABS-CBN Interactive Inc., a subsidiary of ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp., part of the Lopez Group of Companies.
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