MANILA, Philippines — Amid buy-in talks on flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL), business tycoon Lucio Tan said that he was willing to sell a portion of his stake in the company at the “right price.”

Tan, however, declined to comment on reports that he was in talks with San Miguel Corporation President Ramon S. Ang and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan.

“Both are my friends,” Tan told reporters when asked if he was negotiating with neither Ang nor Pangilinan.

PAL Holdings Inc. last week had denied any knowledge of a reported meeting with the Pangilinan group about a deal to sell the flag carrier.

PAL Holdings was reacting to a report that said the company’s President Jaime Bautista and one of the sons of Tan met with MVP for follow-up talks on a supposed investment.

Buy-in talks on PAL began swirling last year, with San Miguel at the forefront of the rumors after Ang confirmed interest in the flag carrier.

San Miguel said that its possible investment in PAL was aimed at aiding the company in its re-fleeting and modernization plans.

The diversifying conglomerate explained that they were invited by Tan, the controlling shareholder of PAL Holdings, but both parties have yet to reach a deal.

Beleaguered by labor disputes, the airline is undergoing a spin-off program, which seeks to restructure and make the carrier leaner and more competitive in the long run.

PAL said it would most likely book a loss in the third quarter of its fiscal year ending March 2012 because of the airline’s ground workers’ strike and skyrocketing jet fuel costs.