By Darwin G. Amojelar, Senior Reporter

TALKS with the Lopezes for the Pangilinan group’s planned acquisition of half of the former’s remaining stake in Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) have stalled after a third party made a more attractive offer for the shares in the country’s biggest electricity distributor.
“It came as a surprise for us. May pumasok eh [Someone came in]. Obviously they [Lopez family] may consider that offer,” Manuel Pangilinan, chairman of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC), said in reaction to the offer made by Triratna Holdings Corp.

Triratna is co-owned by Henry Sy Jr. of the SM group, San Miguel Corp. president Ramon Ang, and Joselito Campos of United Laboratories Inc. (Unilab).

Triratna offered to acquire the remaining 13.4-percent stake of First Philippine Holdings Inc. in Meralco for P300 per share.

“We have not seen the offer. So at the moment we are studying our options. What we heard is their offer of P300 [per share],” Pangilinan told reporters.

He said the company “do[es] have certain rights such as the right to match and the right to tag along. I guess it’s their [Triratna] prerogative to make an offer.”

In March, the PLDT group and the Lopezes forged an agreement that assures both camps control of Meralco should either party decides to let go of their interests in the utility.

Pangilinan earlier said that talks with Oscar Lopez, chairman of First Holdings, to raise the former’s stake in Meralco was supposed to be completed “in the next few weeks.”

“As a technical matter, our right of first refusal and tag along offer were triggered the moment the Lopez group has made an acceptance by the offer of Triratna. At the moment, we’re studying our options very seriously and carefully,” Pangilinan, however, said on Tuesday.

“We will do what’s best for PLDT and Metro Pacific will do what’s best for Metro Pacific. I think Meralco could have an exciting future,” he said.

Pangilinan also said that PLDT’s investment in Meralco would have a positive contribution to the telco.
“We recognized P361 million in earnings from 14th July when the PLDT group acquired its shares. If Meralco achieves its full-year targets, then we should be able to record a significant contribution for the
group starting this year—delivering on our commitment to increase shareholder value,” the executive said.
PLDT and Meralco also expect to generate a number of operational synergies.

Earlier, Meralco, in cooperation with PLDT unit Smart Communications Inc., announced the launch of Meralco Mobile Services, which will have a pilot run in selected areas and will be made available to Meralco customers starting 2010.

Services to be made available for the pilot run are broadcast of pre-determined power interruption schedules, emergency interruptions, typhoon-related safety tips, business center locations and a customer feedback facility.

Once fully operational, other services to be offered include meter reading notification, billing details, bill due date reminders, power outage restoration feedback, among others.
PLDT unit Pilipino Telephone Corp. (Piltel) has a 20-percent stake in Meralco.

First Pacific Co. Ltd., the parent of MPIC and a key PLDT shareholder, had disclosed that it was in talks with “various parties” to increase its stake in Meralco to at least 20 percent.

“The company’s Philippine affiliate, Metro Pacific, has stated that it intends to seek to increase its shareholding in [Meralco] to not less than a 20-percent interest and is in discussion with various parties with the intention of achieving that objective,” the Hong Kong-based conglomerate had said.

MPIC already owns 14.7 percent of Meralco. Together with PLDT’s 20-percent interest, First Pacific now controls 34.7 percent of the utility.

San Miguel owns a 27-percent stake it bought from state-run Government Service Insurance System. Along with its allies, San Miguel is said to control around 43 percent of Meralco.