SHARES OF THE LOPEZES’ First Philippine Holdings Corp. surged on Wednesday ahead of the company board meeting meant to tackle offers for the clan’s remaining 13.4-percent stake in power retailer Manila Electric Co.

The share price of FPH rose by 9 percent to close at P54.50 at the local stock market, defying the general downturn Wednesday, as the market expected the company to benefit from the renewed bidding war for Meralco.

The board of FPH is set to meet Thursday to discuss the offer of Triratna Holdings Corp., a company led by Henry Sy Jr., the eldest son of the mall tycoon, to purchase the remaining shares at about P300 per share or about P44 billion for the whole block.

“At the end of the day, it’s FPH that will benefit from the offers on the table,” one analyst said.

Meralco also closed 4 percent higher yesterday at P217 per share as Sy’s offer heated up the battle for control of the country’s largest power distributor.

The Lopezes’ Benpres Holdings Corp. also gained by a marginal 0.25 percent to close at P3.80. On the other hand, there was profit-taking on Philex Mining Corp. and telecommunications giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. given risks of a potentially costly battle to defend the group of PLDT chair Manuel V. Pangilinan’s stake in the power retailer.

Stephen CuUnjieng, formerly a senior adviser at Macquarie but now with boutique investment bank Evercore Partners, is advising the Lopez family (not the Sy group as earlier reported) in this transaction, an industry source said.

Analysts see a high probability that the Lopez family would accept the offer and ask MVP’s group to match it in compliance to their cooperation agreement.

One analyst also said the “tag along” right of the PLDT group—which allows them to sell some shares alongside the Lopez group if the latter sells to another party—was not sufficient protection against a potential hostile takeover.

But analysts are not discounting that Pangilinan would come up with last-ditch measures—such as building legal obstacles or even bringing in allies of its own that can top the P300 per share offer—to thwart an emerging alliance between Sy and San Miguel Corp.

The vehicle to be used by Sy for the potential acquisition, Triratna, was among those prequalified to bid for the 25-year concession of the National Transmission Corp. (TransCo) in 2007. The major shareholders of Triratna at the time of the TransCo bidding included San Miguel president Ramon Ang and condiments king Joselito Campos Jr., who was then with Unilab but is now with the Del Monte group.

Triratna will be majority owned by Sys after it completes the buyout of its original partners, Sy said.