Conglomerate San Miguel Corp. is in talks with a major creditor of Bayan Telecommunications Inc. (BayanTel) to acquire about $150 million worth of debt paper that could give it the controlling stake in the telecom firm of the Lopez group, Philippine Daily Inquirer sources said.

The negotiations to buy the convertible debt notes from with global asset management firm Avenue Asia Group are in the final stages, the sources said.

If the deal with Avenue Asia Group pushes through, San Miguel will need to get approval of the Lopez group to convert BayanTel?s debts into shares of stock, the sources added.

BayanTel?s latest financial report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission show its restructured debt at P11.23 billion as of Dec. 31, 2007.

The company has a network that consists of satellite, terrestrial and land/submarine cable facilities. It also has an 83 percent capacity interest in National Digital Transmission Network (NDTN), a joint project of six Philippine telecommunications carriers that is the only major telecom backbone in the country other that that operated by dominant carrier Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co.

BayanTel?s network also includes Radio Communications of the Philippines? synchronous digital hierarchy (SDH) microwave network, which has links that extends from Luzon to Mindanao.

BayanTel is a subsidiary of Bayan Telecommunications Holdings Corp., which is 85.4-percent owned by the Lopez family and Benpres Holdings Corp., the family?s publicly listed holding firm for communications, power, infrastructure and real estate.

San Miguel recently initiated talks with Qatar Telecom on a joint venture that may take advantage of opportunities in the wireless broadband, mobile and mobile broadband businesses in the Philippines. QTel owns 34 percent of listed firm Liberty Telecom Holdings Inc.

San Miguel has also acquired 34 percent of the Lopez-run power retailer Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).

It bought 27 percent of Meralco last year from the state pension fund Government Service Insurance System and 7.0 percent from a local fund. These acquisitions enabled it to get four of the 11 seats on the Meralco board.

The Lopez group, one of the Philippines' major family-controlled conglomerates, also has interests in broadcasting, power generation, and property development. It has a 34 percent stake in Meralco through publicly listed First Philippine Holdings Corp.

San Miguel, Southeast Asia's biggest beverage and food group, has been diversifying into heavy industries. With editing by INQUIRER.net