MANILA, Philippines - The son of tobacco magnate Lucio Tan is planning to become a majority shareholder in publicly listed MRC Allied Industries Inc., the company announced on Thursday.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, MRC Allied said its lawyers will start drafting a memorandum agreement for Lucio Tan Jr.'s entry as a majority shareholder.

"We should be able to finalize the contract before our shareholders' meeting intended on January 22, 2010, and we would continuously update the exchange on this development," MRC Allied said.

On Wednesday, MRC Allied said it is in talks with Tan Jr. for a possible joint venture that will involve the acquisition of a power plant. (Read: MRC Allied, Lucio Tan Jr. in talks over possible tie up for power project)

Stock market sources have said that Tan Jr. acquired a controlling interest in MRC last year to serve as a corporate vehicle for his venture into the power business. But MRC denied this, saying that the younger Tan was not a member of the board nor a shareholder of MRC as of January 4, 2010.

In the third quarter of 2009, MRC Allied incurred a net loss of P4.33 million compared with P34.85 million recorded in the same period a year earlier. With a report from The Philippine Star