MANILA - San Miguel Corp. plans to hold on to its stake in Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) for now, its chief financial officer said on Tuesday.

"That's the plan for now," Ferdinand Constantino told reporters, adding San Miguel had not considered any plan to sell its holdings in the utility, which holds an extensive fiber optic network.

San Miguel and its allies hold as much as 47% of Meralco, and are battling the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) group for control. The PLDT group and ally Lopez family control 48%.

Early this month, Manuel V. Pangilinan-led telecommunications group bought 6.7% or half of the Lopezes' remaining 13.4% stake in the power firm.

PLDT affiliate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. exercised its right-of-first-refusal and matched the P300 per share offer of TriRatna Holdings Corp.

TriRatna is led by Henry Sy Jr., the son and namesake of the country's richest man and business partner of San Miguel president Ramon Ang. - Report from Reuters