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WINSTON
Garcia, president, general manager and vice chairman of
the board of trustees of the Government Service
Insurance System (GSIS), is pitting himself against the
Lopezes in Tuesday’s annual stockholders’ meeting of the
Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).
Will he
succeed in toppling the Lopezes, who once lost Meralco
to the government 36 years ago?
Armed
only with a nominal share to qualify for election to the
board of the power distributor, Garcia has GSIS’s
249.139 million shares to back him up, which is
equivalent to 22.349 percent of Meralco’s 1.115 billion
shares. With these shares, he wants four seats in
Meralco’s 10-man board.
Although
Malacañang has assured the public that President Arroyo
is unbelievably keeping a hands-off policy in the battle
for control of Meralco’s 10-man board, Garcia
nevertheless may expect the other government agencies
which combine for significant stakes in Meralco to vote
with him in effectively seeking reforms within Meralco.
Including GSIS’s 22.349 percent holdings, the government
owns a total of 362.853 million Meralco shares, or 32.55
percent—through the Social Security System, 61.529
million shares, or 5.520 percent; Land Bank of the
Philippines, 48.569 million, or 4.357 percent;
Philippine Health Insurance Corp., 1.904 million shares,
0.171 percent; and Home Mutual Development Fund, 1.712
million shares, 0.154 percent.
This is
where the numbers game and the fight for proxies begin.
With the
election of two independent directors, who need only a
nominal share each, the Lopezes, who own 372.175 shares,
or 33.386 percent, and Garcia may have to pile up as
many proxies as possible to be able to get the majority
of the remaining eight seats.
The
Lopezes’s stakes in Meralco are held by First Philippine
Union Fenosa Inc. with 253.093 million shares, or 22.704
percent, and First Philippine Holdings Corp., with
119.082 million shares, or 10.682 percent.
The
question is, will Garcia be able to use the entire
government holdings in voting as many seats in Meralco’s
board?
The most
crucial stand or vote for Garcia may come from Corazon
de la Paz, president and chief executive officer of the
SSS. Will she compromise SSS’s stake in Meralco against
the Lopezes? SSS members also include Meralco’s
thousands of employees and those of other companies the
family controls.
The
Lopezes have a slight advantage in number but only 0.836
percent separates them from the government, plus the
management holdings of 3.217 million shares, or 0.29
percent.
As in a
closely-fought contest for proxies, every share counts,
so consider the following:
•
Meralco Pension Fund, for one, owns 97.402 million
shares, or 8.74 percent. It is not clear if its stake is
included in the shares earlier acquired by First
Philippine Holdings Corp.
• Board
of administrators-Employees Stock Option plan, 11.27
million shares, or 1.01 percent;
•
Citbank NA, 32.96 million shares, or 2.957 percent;
•
Deutsche Bank, 3.874 million shares, 0.347 percent;
• Hong
Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp., 77.116 million, or
6.918 percent;
•
Standard Chartered Bank, 62.823 million shares, 5.636
percent.
The four
foreign banks act as trustees for Meralco’s foreign
stockholders. They combine for 176.773 or 15.858
percent.
All
these holdings total 911.801 million shares, or 81.794
percent, leaving 202.946 million shares, 18.206 percent
in the hands of stockbrokers and individual stockholders
whose holdings are not lodged with PCD Nominee Corp. |
