MANILA, Philippines ? The Lopez Group said it was willing to further trim its stake in Manila Electric Co. for as long as it could retain at least a five-percent interest and one board seat in the company.

The Lopezes? holding firm, First Philippine Holdings Corp. (FPH), which earlier struck a deal giving First Pacific Co. Ltd. of Hong Kong the option to buy 6.7 percent or half of its remaining stake in Meralco by end-March this year, is now in discussion on the execution of this call option and its interest moving forward, FPH president and chief operating officer Elpidio Ibanez said in a briefing Thursday.

He said FPH, which had drawn an P11.2-billion short-term loan from First Pacific local infrastructure arm Metro Pacific Investments Corp., wanted to maintain a strategic presence in Meralco and keep a stake of at least 5 percent. This suggested that it could sell to the First Pacific group about 19 million additional shares in Meralco or about 1.7 percent, on top of the earlier committed stake.

?In a way, it?s a concession that they will help us maintain one board seat.?

He, however, said there was no discussion yet on whether the Manuel Pangilinan-led group would buy the additional 1.7-percent stake that FPH was willing to unload. Based on Thursday?s closing price of P198 per share, this chunk is worth about P3.76 billion.

The MPIC is expected to exercise the option to acquire the 6.7-percent stake in Meralco on or before March 31.

Such as a move will jack up the stake of the Pangilinan group to 41.4 percent.

Asked whether a strategic presence in Meralco was necessary for the Lopezes? power generation units to maintain a long-term business with the power distributor, Ibanez explained: ?We think our [supply] contracts with Meralco will stand on their own without the need for any ownership position. But of course having a feel of the electricity industry through Meralco is also important.?

He said that the Lopezes? Sta. Rita power plant, for instance, had a supply contract with Meralco that is good for another 17 years, while San Lorenzo has a contract valid for another 19 years.