DESPITE his association with the  private company now vying for an influential slice of  Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), San Miguel Corp. president Ramon Ang  said last week that the conglomerate is “not interested” in controlling the utility.

On Friday, private firm TriRatna Holdings Corp. led by Henry Sy. Jr., eldest son of retail tycoon Henry Sy Sr., made a surprise bid for the Lopez family’s remaining 13.4-percent stake in Meralco.

This was confirmed on the same day by First Philippine Holdings Corp., the Lopez company which owns the family’s stake in the power distributor.

San Miguel directly owns 27 percent of Meralco, while its ally Global 5000 Investment Inc. owns as much as 10 percent. This means that an acquisition by TriRatna will allow the San Miguel group to pull ahead of Pangilinan’s group in what some have touted as a battle for control over Meralco’s ownership.

When sought for comment, Ang said the diversifying conglomerate is not interested in controlling Meralco while adding that he is no longer part of TriRatna.

“That’s now purely Sy family,” Ang said in a telephone interview.

Businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan, who controls 34.7 percent of Meralco through Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. and Metro Pacific Investments Corp., is said to be in final negotiations to purchase at least half of the Lopez stake which will increase his group’s holdings to 41.4 percent.

In addition, Pangilinan’s group holds a right of first refusal with the Lopez family over its entire Meralco stake, valued at almost P30 billion based on current prices. The agreement gives his group the chance to match an offer made by another party over the Lopez shares.

First Philippine Holdings said in a disclosure to the stock exchange that the proposal of TriRatna “will be brought to the board on November 5 for deliberation in light of the discussions currently ongoing with Metro Pacific.”

Earlier speculation over a bidding war between San Miguel and Pangilinan’s group has also made Meralco’s stock price among the most volatile this year. Meralco’s shares in July touched a record high of P302.50 per share before dropping as low as P166 in early October.

An analyst, who declined to be named, said this latest development may bring renewed volatility to the utility’s share price, which had been declining in the past week as investors expected Pangilinan’s group to close a deal with the Lopezes soon.