The long-awaited transfer of a Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) stake to San Miguel Corp. has quickly created new ripples in the local business scene, with tycoon Manuel V. Pangilinan’s group signaling its interest in acquiring those very shares.

Pangilinan, who serves as Meralco’s chairman and chief executive officer, told reporters on Monday, July 28, that the MVP Group is awaiting word from San Miguel head honcho Ramon S. Ang regarding his plans for the recently acquired interest in the power retailer.

Last week, San Miguel Global Power Holdings Corp., the power generation arm of San Miguel, finalized its long-pending acquisition of a Meralco stake from state-lender Land Bank of the Philippines.

The deal, which had been entangled in court for over 17 years, involved the purchase of 43.23 million Meralco shares at ₱90 each back in 2008, totaling ₱3.9 billion. With Meralco shares now trading around ₱538, that same stake is currently valued at approximately ₱23.3 billion.

“We already discussed it earlier today [Monday] with the board. No decision. We just look at the options,” Pangilinan said.

He noted that their next steps will depend on San Miguel’s plans for the deal.

“As to what he [Ang] intends to do with [it], we have not spoken to him about it. A bit too early to do that," Pangilinan said.

Ang’s re-entry into Meralco’s shareholding brings back memories of a major corporate showdown in 2008 for control of the Philippines’ largest electricity distributor.

That intense struggle pitted two of the country's most powerful business groups against each other: Ang’s San Miguel and Pangilinan’s MVP Group.