State and regional officials in Ohio reached a deal for the Dayton-Montgomery County Port Authority to finance the $300 million expansion of DHL's air park in Wilmington, the carrier's principal air and ground hub in the United States.

The Dayton port authority had been locked in litigation with the Clinton County Port Authority involving the rights to finance the deal for more than a year. The agreement reached Monday afternoon says the Clinton County Port will contract with the Dayton port and DHL for the Dayton port to finance the expansion.

The agreement also calls for Clinton port to provide the financing for any future projects, adding that the Dayton port will operate in Clinton County only under the current contract, according to a news release.

Wilmington is the linchpin of DHL's $1.2 billion U.S. investment launched in 2004. DHL has since consolidated and expanded its operations in Wilmington instead of a similar facility near Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.