PLDT says willing to raise stake in Manila Electric

MANILA, May 26 (Reuters) - Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co (PLDT) (TEL.PS) and its affiliates are interested in raising their stake in Manila Electric Co (Meralco) (MER.PS) by buying the Lopez business group's remaining 13.4 percent holdings, the PLDT chairman said on Tuesday.

Asked by reporters if PLDT was willing to buy the Lopez family's remaining Meralco stake, company chairman Manuel Pangilinan said: "Yes, yes."

PLDT and San Miguel Corp (SMC.PS) (SMCB.PS) bought stakes in the power distributor to boost their own telecoms ventures using Meralco's fiber optic network. (Reporting by Manolo Serapio Jr.; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)