More stockholders’ meetings expected for both rival Yanson family factions
MANILA, Philippines — More stockholder meetings are set to be initiated by feuding factions of the Yanson family, owners of the Yanson Group of Bus Companies, to gain control over the country’s largest bus firm.
The lawyer of one side of the Yanson siblings, dubbed as the Yanson Four, said on Tuesday that the legal battle is far from over despite both factions holding their respective stockholders meeting for the same bus companies — Mindanao Star Bus Transport Inc. and Bachelor Express Inc. — a few weeks ago.
The Yanson Four, made up of Roy Yanson, Emily Yanson, Ricardo Yanson Jr., and Ma. Lourdes Celina Yanson claimed that they were elected to corporate positions in the two companies.
However, the other side composed of company president Leo Rey Yanson and family matriarch and company co-founder Olivia Yanson also insisted that they too were elected by majority of the stockholders in a separate meeting.
“The legal battle for control of the Yanson Group of Bus Companies (YGBC) is far from over. Cases and countersuits are still pending before various courts to show the real majority shareholders and to unmask the impostors,” Yanson Four lawyer Carlo Joaquin Narvasa said in a statement.
But Leo Rey’s camp insisted that they gave ample time to remind the Yanson Four to attend stockholders meetings as they indeed have shares in the company, but none responded to their invites.
According to Leo Rey, based on the annual stockholders meeting of the two bus firms, he was reelected to Mindanao Star’s Board of Directors before being elected as chairperson and president of the company
On the other hand, the siblings’ mother Olivia kept her post as corporate secretary and treasurer.
The Yanson Group of Bus Companies, the largest bus company with a fleet of more than 4,000 buses and with over 18,000 employees operating mostly in Visayas and Mindanao, is locked in a legal battle between the rival Yanson factions.
To recall, the Yanson 4 booted Leo Rey out of the family company in a boardroom coup sometime in 2019. However, Leo Rey and Olivia regained control of the company and filed appropriate charges against the four siblings.
After that, Olivia released a statement that year explaining that the company was handed over by her husband, Ricardo Yanson Sr., who was also co-founder of the bus firm, to Leo Rey.
