--State says it could finalize a deal late this year or early in '13

--But Virginia opted not to go forward with deal in 2010 and could do so again

--Preferred proposal could be selected by mid-October

(Updates with comments from Virginia spokesman in ninth paragraph.)

 
   By Bob Sechler

Three rival bidders have emerged to operate the Port of Virginia in a closely-watched contest to run one of the country's largest logistics hubs.

The port authority said Wednesday that it had received proposals from Carlyle Group LP (CG) and a unit of Deutsche Bank AG (DB, DBK.XE) to run the facility for up to five decades, which follow the unsolicited offer made in May by APM Terminals Inc., a unit of Denmark's A.P. Moller-Maersk Group (MAERSK-B.KO).

The Port of Virginia is the sixth-largest in the U.S. by volume, and is expanding to take advantage of the expected surge in East Coast traffic following improvements to the Panama Canal.

The port authority considered similar lease proposals in 2009 after receiving an unsolicited bid, but dropped the plan the following year because it viewed them as undervaluing the facility.

The three existing proposals vary widely in value.

APM puts the net present value of its proposal to run the port for 48 years at $3.2 billion to $3.9 billion, counting fixed payments, capital investments and various other benefits.

Carlyle pegged its own 48-year plan at $1.8 billion to $2.1 billion, although it noted that the sums "compare favorably" to the APM proposal when elements aside from fixed concession payments and revenue sharing are stripped out.

RREEF, Deutsche Bank's real estate investment arm, submitted a proposal to operate the port's facilities for 50 years, valuing the deal at about $4.6 billion in present dollars.

Ryan Pedraza, program manager for public-private partnerships in the Virginia Office of Transportation, said a preferred proposal could be selected by mid-October and an agreement finalized late this year or early in 2013. Still, he also cautioned that the state could opt once again to call off the process and keep port operations as they are.

Write to Bob Sechler at bob.sechler@dowjones.com

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