‘This dispute has not been good for any of us’: Gabby Lopez explains Ramon Ang deal

Insider Spotlight

• Gabby Lopez sells his family branch’s 25.7 percent stake in Lopez, Inc. after a dispute that spilled into boardrooms and the courts.
• Ramon Ang enters in his personal capacity, calling himself a “steady partner” while leaving control with the remaining Lopez family branches.
• Lopez says the sale opens a path to “family peace” and frees his branch to pursue businesses aligned with its own mission.

A bitter family conflict that spilled from the boardroom into the courts has ended with Eugenio “Gabby” Lopez III selling his branch’s 25.7 percent stake in Lopez, Inc. to tycoon Ramon S. Ang.

For Lopez, the deal offers a way out of a dispute that had increasingly overshadowed one of the Philippines’ most storied business families.

“The first is my family,” Lopez said. “This dispute has not been good for any of us, or for the people who work in our companies.”

What happened before? 

The tensions erupted publicly in February 2026 when a majority of the Lopez, Inc. board moved to remove Gabby's cousin, Federico “Piki” Lopez as president and CEO, a decision that was later challenged in court. 

Behind the conflict were disagreements over major transactions involving First Gen Corp. and tycoon Enrique Razon Jr.’s Prime Infrastructure, including the P50-billion sale of a controlling stake in First Gen’s gas business in late 2025. The rift also spilled into ABS-CBN, where Piki Lopez’s camp reportedly blocked proposed fresh capital infusions and called for the network’s closure in 2025.

The dispute subsequently spread across the group’s boardrooms, turning what had been an internal disagreement into an increasingly public battle over governance and the direction of the family empire.

A way forward

“This allows us to take a step towards the restoration of family peace,” Gabby Lopez said. “The second is that it allows me to channel our family’s resources into businesses aligned with our personal mission.”

“We will announce more on this in due time,” he added. “Our families have known Ramon a long time. I am confident he will be a good partner to Lopez, Inc.”

Ang acquired the 25.7 percent stake in his personal capacity through a wholly owned holding company, positioning himself as a major shareholder but leaving control with the remaining Lopez family branches.

‘A steady partner’

“I have known the Lopez family for decades. Not one branch of it, but all of them,” Ang said. “I am a friend to each, and I intend to stay that way.”

“I came in because I believe in these businesses, and because a steady partner at the table can be good for everyone around it,” he said.

“The family branches that continue to hold the controlling majority of Lopez, Inc., will continue to lead it,” Ang added. “My interest is that the group comes out of this stronger.”

—Edited by Miguel R. Camus