By Jenniffer B. Austria

Metro Pacific Investments Corp. plans to increase its stake in Manila Electric Co. by acquiring the shares owned by its parent company?Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd.

Metro Pacific chairman Manuel Pangilinan told reporters that First Pacific planned to transfer its Meralco shares to Metro Pacific in exchange for the latter?s shares.

Pangilinan, who is also the managing director of First Pacific, did not say how many Meralco shares First Pacific owns.

Metro Pacific is in talks with the PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund, the retirement fund of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., to acquire the fund?s 10.17 percent stake in Meralco.

Pangilinan said Metro Pacific and the trust fund had not finalized the acquisition price.

He said Metro Pacific would engage an independent financial adviser to determine the price of the Meralco shares to be paid to the retirement fund. PLDT?s retirement fund could also hire an adviser to assess the valuation of its Meralco shares.

Pangilinan?s group and the Lopez family now own a combined 43.5 percent stake in Meralco.

PLDT last week said it was acquiring a 20 percent stake in Meralco from the Lopez family to help fend off a possible hostile takeover by food and beverage giant San Miguel Corp.

PLDT, through subsidiary Pilipino Telephone Corp., will acquire 223 million Meralco shares for P20 billion, or P90 per share.

The acquisition will raise PLDT?s stake in Meralco to 30.17 percent following the purchase by the PLDT?s retirement fund of a 10.17-percent stake last month.

San Miguel owns a 27 percent stake in Meralco. Including the 10 percent acquired by Global 5000 Holdings, which is affiliated to the food and beverage giant, San Miguel now holds a 37 percent stake in the power distribution company.

Meanwhile, Pangilinan said his group remained interested in further increasing its stake in Meralco through Metro Pacific.

?We are open to any shareholders willing to dispose their shares. If any shareholders offer their shares to us, we may be willing to buy,? Pangilinan said.

Pangilinan said First Pacific as part of its corporate strategy aims to have majority control in companies where it has significant investments.

?But we just have to wait. There are two other significant shareholders of Meralco, the Lopezes and San Miguel, so we just have to wait and see the developments in the future,? Pangilinan said.

Pangilinan said his group would have three board seats in Meralco and had submitted the names of Pangilinan, ePLDT president Ray Espinosa and PLDT president Napoleon Nazareno as nominees.

Lopez will have two board seats plus 1 independent director.

San Miguel will have four board seats and one independent director. It submitted the names of Miguel president Ramon Ang, Estelito Mendoza, Mario Surio and Allan Ortiz said nominees to the Meralco board.