Manila Electric surges after mall tycoon's son buy-in bid

Published: 02 Nov 2009 19:05:49 PST

MANILA, Nov 3 - Shares of Manila Electric Co (Meralco) PS> jumped 17 percent on Tuesday, its first reaction to news that the son of the Philippines' mall tycoon Henry Sy had offered to buy a major stake in the firm for $940 million.

Meralco jumped to as much as 223 pesos at midsession, its highest in nearly two weeks, before paring some of its gains to 220 pesos.

On Friday, Henry Sy Jr, eldest son and namesake of the mall magnate, said he offered to buy the entire stake of the Lopez business clan in Meralco. [ID:nMAN347240]

Markets were closed on Monday for a holiday, so Tuesday is the first trading day since the offer was made.

He did not disclose the value of his offer but sources said the purchase price given to the Lopez family was around 300 pesos ($6.32) per share, reflecting a premium of 36 percent over current prices.