The French shipping group CMA CGM and the US investor Stonepeak are founding a new joint venture, United Ports, to bundle central terminal interests.
Ten large container terminals operated by CMA CGM in North and South America, Europe and Asia will be brought into the joint venture. Stonepeak will invest $2.4 billion, acquiring a minority stake of 25%, while CMA CGM will hold 75% of the shares and retain full operational control. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2026. The transaction is subject to the usual regulatory approvals, in particular in the areas of antitrust law and foreign direct investment.
United Ports’ portfolio includes Fenix Marine Services (Los Angeles) and the Port Liberty terminals (New York and Bayonne). It also includes the terminals in Santos (Brazil), CSP Valencia and CSP Bilbao, Terminal Marítima del Guadalquivir and TTI Algeciras (Spain). In Asia, the joint venture includes the Nhava Sheva Freeport Terminal in India, the CMA-CGM terminal in Kaohsiung (Taiwan) and Gemalink in Cai Mep (Vietnam). In total, the activities now cover six countries and several strategically important sea trade routes.
“The establishment of United Ports, our joint venture with Stonepeak, is an important step in the further development of our terminal activities in the United States and worldwide,” emphasizes Rodolphe Saadé, Chairman and CEO of the CMA CGM Group. “Having a partner with strong infrastructure expertise at our side strengthens our ability to further invest in our port terminals, secure access to key gateways and improve service quality for our customers,” Saadé continues.
With the new structure, the world’s third-largest shipping company and Stonepeak intend to significantly increase their investment power in the terminal business. The aim is to further develop existing facilities, create additional capacity and realize new terminal projects. CMA CGM also sees the partnership as an important step towards securing access to central port gateways and further improving service quality for customers. The shipping group plans to fully reinvest the proceeds from the transaction in the expansion of its core businesses and to strengthen its supply chain capabilities across sea, land, air and logistics solutions.
Stonepeak, in turn, emphasizes the strategic importance of container terminals as an irreplaceable infrastructure in global trade. As part of the long-term partnership, the investor will have the opportunity to participate in future joint terminal projects in the USA and worldwide with an additional $3.6 billion. United Ports is thus not only aligned with the existing portfolio, but also designed as a platform for further growth.
