Virginia legislators should demand a larger cash offer up front, and ensure more commitment to promises of future investments from Maersk-owned APM Terminals, which in May of this year made an unsolicited bid on operating the Port of Virginia for the next 48 years, says renowned professor of economics Dr. James V. Koch, former university president, researcher, and through many years the author of the annual State of the Region Report for Hampton Roads, Virginia.

On Friday, August 24th, James V. Koch was summoned to a public hearing in Virginia in front of a commission consisting of Governor Bob McDonnell and a series of senior legislators, who in the coming months will decide whether America’s sixth largest and strategically important port on the East Coast will be privatized. Since APM Terminals made their offer of USD 3.9 billion, including USD 1.3 billion in cash, the equity fund Carlyle Group and a consortium headed by Deutsche Bank have also made offers on the port, similarly, the governmental unit currently running the port is also taking part in the bidding war.