FEDERICO “Piki” Lopez was removed as president and CEO of Lopez Inc. for cause and loss of trust, three Lopez family factions representing 71 percent of the family’s holding company said in a statement on Tuesday.
The board was said to have voted 5-2 to remove Lopez on Feb. 27, with Piki Lopez and his brother, Benjamin, dissenting.
Lopez represents the Oscar Lopez group, the fourth faction in the family. A court has temporarily blocked his ouster, allowing him to remain in his post.
According to the statement, the majority said it found questionable transactions involving billions of pesos in companies managed by Lopez and that it was preparing legal action against him and others for alleged breaches of fiduciary duties.
Efforts to audit First Gen Corp., a publicly listed company involved in the transactions, were met with a nondisclosure agreement proposed by Lopez’s camp, the statement said.
The agreement would have prohibited the use of any adverse information in complaints, but the majority refused to sign and said it would push for a full audit to protect all shareholders.
The majority’s lawyers also filed a motion to lift the pro-Lopez court order, citing the by-laws allowing a majority vote for removal and pointing to Lopez’s opaque management style as proof of breach of governance.
The majority alleged that First Gen entered into billion-peso transactions without informing the company or its board. Some board members reportedly learned of the deals only through media reports after pressing Lopez for information.
It said one deal had been effectively completed by the time it was briefly discussed under “other matters” in the agenda. Questions had been raised over the validity of the board approval.
Other high-value transactions in recent years are said to be now also under review.
The majority said Lopez must open company books for audit without conditions, especially as the companies are publicly listed.
Lopez nor his representatives were not immediately available for comment.
Lopez Inc. is a private holding and investment entity of the Lopez family and is the parent firm of listed conglomerate Lopez Holdings Corp.
Lopez Holdings shares shed P0.01, or 0.27 percent, to close at P3.64 each on Tuesday.
