MANILA - Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co. said on Wednesday it was in talks to sell a stake in the Philippine company to Hong Kong's First Pacific Co.

It gave no other details, but BusinessWorld newspaper said on Wednesday that the Hong Kong-based firm had completed due diligence. The report said however that talks had bogged down because Lepanto was only offering a 20% stake.

According to earlier newspaper reports, First Pacific wants to acquire all the assets of Lepanto, including its subsidiary Manila Mining Corp.

First Pacific controls the Philippines' most valuable firm, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co, and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. Through these units and allies, it also controls 48% of power utility Manila Electric Co.

Lepanto's A and B shares both closed 2% down on Wednesday, underperforming the overall market which closed 0.68% up.