Crème Investment, a privately held company led by Eugenio Lopez III, will acquire FPH’s full 90.7% stake in Rockwell Land, the conglomerate said in a stock exchange disclosure.
The deal further divides the Lopez family’s business empire, which also includes ABS-CBN, a former media giant whose broadcast license the government did not renew in 2020.
The family feud began earlier this year when Eugenio sought to remove his younger cousin Federico as head of Lopez Inc., the family’s privately held holding company.
Federico Lopez and his family rank among the wealthiest in the Philippines, with a combined net worth of $290 million.
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Rockwell Center Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines. Photo courtesy of Rockwell Land |
The fight for control eased in August after brewery and infrastructure billionaire Ramon Ang bought Crème’s entire 25.7% stake in Lopez Inc. in his personal capacity. Lopez Inc. is the majority shareholder of both ABS-CBN and Lopez Holdings, which owns 61% of FPH.
“The empire is getting divided and this sets a clearer ownership structure [detailing] which side of the family will get what part,” said Jonathan Ravelas, managing director at Manila-based consulting firm eMBM, as reported by Forbes.
The Lopez family traces its business roots to the 19th century, when the Philippines was still a Spanish colony.
The family started in sugar and shipping before expanding into power utilities, media and real estate. Rockwell Land, which develops residential and commercial properties, was founded in 1975 and listed in Manila in 2012.
“The divestment of Rockwell will enable FPH to redeploy resources towards investments in the FPH Group’s energy, infrastructure and other businesses where significant opportunities are emerging,” FPH said.
FPH’s main publicly traded company is First Gen, one of the Philippines’ largest power producers. First Gen is the parent of Energy Development Corp., the country’s largest geothermal energy company.
EDC said earlier this year that it would spend 125 billion pesos to upgrade and expand its capacity.