Ramon Ang Acquires 25.68% Lopez Inc. Stake Amid Family Governance Dispute

 

Tycoon Ramon Ang is set to become a significant shareholder of Lopez Inc. after acquiring the entire 25.68% interest held by Crème Investment Corp., the holding company representing the family branch of former ABS-CBN chairman Eugenio Gabby Lopez III.

The transaction introduces an outside investor into the privately held parent company of the Lopez Group while a prolonged dispute over family governance and corporate decisions remains unresolved.

Crème Investment disclosed the sale on Monday, August 10. The purchase price and other financial details were not made public.

Ang is pursuing the acquisition in his personal capacity through a wholly owned investment vehicle, separate from San Miguel Corp. where he serves as chairman and chief executive officer. San Miguel said Ang is expected to brief the company’s board about the transaction during its scheduled August 13 meeting.

A new shareholder enters the Lopez Group

The acquisition gives Ang a substantial position in the holding company above several prominent Lopez family businesses. These include First Philippine Holdings, First Gen, Rockwell Land and ABS-CBN.

The Lopez family’s other branches will retain a controlling majority of Lopez Inc., meaning Ang will not take control of the group through this transaction. His entry, however, could give the conglomerate’s ownership structure a new dimension as the family works through its internal disagreements.

For Gabby Lopez’s branch, the sale represents both a financial realignment and an attempt to distance itself from a dispute that has increasingly affected the family’s corporate affairs.

Gabby said the transaction would help move the family toward restoring harmony while allowing his branch to concentrate its capital and attention on businesses that fit its own priorities.

The development can be viewed as a separation of interests within a closely held family enterprise. Rather than simply changing who owns a block of shares, the transaction potentially creates greater independence among the family branches while placing a prominent business figure outside the Lopez clan inside the ownership structure.

Dispute over leadership triggered wider tensions

The Lopez family conflict became public in February when a majority of the Lopez Inc. board voted 5-2 to remove Federico Piki Lopez as president and chief executive officer, citing cause and loss of trust.

Piki Lopez contested the decision in court. The board majority eventually withdrew the removal resolution in May, but disagreements over corporate governance and strategic transactions involving the group’s energy businesses persisted.

One of the most contentious issues involved First Gen and transactions with Prime Infrastructure Capital, led by businessman Enrique Razon Jr.

Among the agreements under scrutiny was a reported P50-billion transaction involving a controlling interest in First Gen’s gas business, along with arrangements connected to its hydropower assets. The Lopez majority questioned provisions that it argued could potentially expose First Gen to significant financial losses if Piki Lopez were removed from key management positions.

First Gen rejected allegations of wrongdoing and maintained that the disputed provisions were sought by Prime Infra as safeguards for its investments.

ABS-CBN funding proposal also became a flashpoint

The corporate dispute extended beyond First Gen and into questions surrounding ABS-CBN’s financial position.

Piki Lopez has maintained that the effort to remove him was connected to his refusal to support a proposed P2-billion capital infusion for the media company, which has faced financial challenges.

The majority faction, however, has maintained that the decision to remove him was based on alleged cause and a loss of trust.

With Ang now acquiring one family branch’s substantial stake, the Lopez Group enters another consequential phase. The transaction does not resolve the underlying governance issues, but it alters the shareholder landscape at the top of one of the Philippines’ most prominent family-controlled business groups.