MANILA, May 15 (Reuters) - U.S. private equity firm

Cerberus Capital Management said it has agreed to lease part of

its Philippine shipyard in Subic Bay to HD Korea Shipbuilding

and Offshore Engineering, which plans to build a facility there

to manufacture offshore wind platforms.

Cerberus said on Wednesday it has signed a multi-year

agreement with HD KSOE to lease part of the

350-hectare shipyard Cerberus acquired in 2022 in Subic Bay,

northeast of the capital Manila, which was home to a U.S. navy

base until 1992.

The shipyard was run by Hanjin Philippines before it

defaulted on loans worth $1.3 billion in 2019. Manila considers

it an important asset because of its shelter, depth and access

to the South China Sea.

"Hyundai will be leasing a large section of the shipyard

from us and will be bringing maritime manufacturing back to

Subic at a very large scale with an initial focus on offshore

wind platforms," Alexander Benard, Senior Managing Director at

Cerberus, told a virtual press conference.

"This will create very substantial employment and that will

really bring that economic activity and that economic vitality

back to the Subic Bay region," Benard said.

In a joint statement with Cerberus, HD KSOE said it expected

to commence site preparations in the near term, with operations

starting within the next 12-18 months.

HD KSOE said the state-of-the-art maritime complex it

planned to build would also be capable of handling ship block

fabrication, ship repairs and other services.

Other tenants at the Subic shipyard include the Philippine

Navy which occupies 100-hectares, global logistics company V2X,

and Cerberus-owned SubCom, a global subsea cable firm.