HOPEWELL Holdings confirmed yesterday that it had agreed to guarantee payment of up to US$273.75 million to Mitsubishi Corp as part of an agreement to build a power station in the Philippines. Hopewell said the guarantees involved payment of up to $236 million for 90.1 per cent owned subsidiary Slipform Engineering under a consortium agreement signed between Slipform and Mitsubishi on March 7. There is also a guarantee for a maximum of $37.75 million as payment for a performance bond issued on behalf of the consortium. Hopewell is hoping to finish the $900 million Pagbilao coal-fired plant by mid-1995. Mr Stewart Elliot, a Hopewell and Slipform director, holds the 9.99 per cent of Slipform not owned by Hopewell. The Pagbilao power station will be Hopewell's second in the Philippines and will supply about 15 per cent of the country's power. After 25 years the station will be handed over to the government, under the terms of the contract. Construction is expected to start in the second quarter of the year.
