The temporary truce within the prominent Lopez family has collapsed.
A faction led by former ABS-CBN Corporation Chairman Emeritus Eugenio “Gabby” Lopez III has launched a fresh offensive against his cousin, First Gen Corporation chief Federico “Piki” Lopez, over a controversial ₱75-billion ($1.28 billion) energy transaction.
In a statement released Tuesday, Gabby’s camp alleged that Piki agreed to a deal allowing First Gen to acquire a 40% stake in the hydropower business of Prime Infrastructure, owned by tycoon Enrique Razon Jr. The group claims the transaction involved paying Prime ₱50 billion as a transaction premium alongside ₱25 billion in construction equity.
According to the family faction, internal board documents recently exposed the premium. They further alleged that the agreement contains “poison pills” that would penalize First Gen roughly ₱24 billion and trigger defaults across its sister companies if Piki is ousted from his executive position.
“First Gen did not disclose the premium to the stock market but instead said ₱62.5 billion will be used to directly fund the construction and the equity requirements of the projects,” Gabby’s group said.
The statement also detailed that shortly after closing the deal earlier this year, Piki reduced First Gen’s stake in the hydropower asset from 40% to 33%, which lowered the capital commitment to ₱61.875 billion. Gabby’s camp argues that under this restructured framework, Prime only needs to inject ₱625 million to complete the project by 2030 while keeping 67% of the profits.
“In effect, Piki funded the whole project that is yet to be built, has no cash flow for years, and faces multiple completion risks. This is a horrible deal for First Gen. As we have been saying, we do not and cannot trust Piki,” Gabby’s camp said.
Furthermore, the faction noted that the stake reduction stripped First Gen of its strategic minority veto rights, giving absolute operational control to Prime. They pointed out that maintaining those veto powers would have cost First Gen only an additional ₱625 million.
The development prompted Gabby’s group to raise questions about potential undisclosed payouts linked to the restructuring.
“Did Prime pay a premium for getting full control of the hydropower company? If so, how much and who got it? So much is being hidden from the investing public that regulators must step in,” the statement asked.
Gabby’s camp has urged the Philippine Stock Exchange and the Securities and Exchange Commission to mandate full disclosure from First Gen to safeguard investors. They added that their repeated requests to Piki for documentation regarding both the original and modified transactions have been ignored.
They are now questioning whether independent directors Manuel Ayala, Alicia Rita Morales, and Edgar Chua received adequate information to properly evaluate the deal and protect minority shareholders.
This public escalation follows a brief lull in hostilities. Just last month, majority shareholders of Lopez Inc. rescinded a February 27 resolution to remove Piki as president and CEO in an effort to initiate dialogue.
While the faction previously indicated a willingness to compromise subject to information access, the legal battle remains active. The parties are currently locked in a Court of Appeals dispute over an injunction that blocked the CEO’s removal.
The camp of Piki Lopez has not yet issued a response or statement regarding the allegations.