French giant CMA CGM, which controls Santos Brasil , responsible for the largest container terminal in Latin America, located in the port of Santos, announced on Wednesday, January 28, the creation of a joint venture with the American management company Stonepeak to manage ten port terminals operated by the company worldwide, including the Brazilian one.
In the new operation, which will be called United Ports LLC, the investment firm will hold a 25% stake. To achieve this, it will invest US$2.4 billion in the joint venture. With this, the combined company will have a market value of US$10 billion.
The transaction includes the assets Los Angeles Fenix Marine Services (United States), Port Liberty New York and Bayonne terminals (United States), Santos Brasil, CSP Valencia and CSP Bilbao (Spain), Guadalquivir Maritime Terminal (Spain), TTI Algeciras (Spain), Nhava Sheva Freeport Terminal (India), CMA CGM Kaohsiung Terminal (Taiwan), and Gemalink (Vietnam).
“Through this strategic partnership, we have brought together ten terminals operated by CMA CGM in six countries. By joining forces, we strengthen our ability to invest even more in our terminals,” says Rodolphe Saadé, President and CEO of CMA CGM, in a joint statement from the companies.
The funds invested by Stonepeak will be reinvested in the company's growth and in expanding the capacity of its supply chain to meet the increasing demand for maritime transport solutions.
Under the agreement, the management company will be able to secure US$3.6 billion in financing for future joint port terminal development projects. The transaction is expected to be completed in the second half of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals.
According to the Wall Street Journal , with the creation of the joint venture, the companies intend precisely to accelerate these investments, which could have great potential to partially diminish China's dominance in the shipbuilding industry, a clear desire of President Donald Trump.
In March of last year, CMA CGM committed to investing US$20 billion in the United States to develop maritime transport logistics and terminals over the next four years. At the time, Saadé was in the Oval Office of the White House with Trump, who praised the initiative.
Stonepeak is an infrastructure-focused investment firm with approximately $80 billion in assets under management. Its main sectors are transportation and logistics, digital infrastructure, energy, and real estate.
The management company also owns Trac Intermodal, an infrastructure provider for moving containers to American ports.
“Container terminals play an essential role in global trade and are among the most difficult transportation infrastructure assets to replace or replicate,” says James Wyper, senior managing director, head of private equity in the US and head of transportation and logistics at Stonepeak, in the statement.
CMA CGM announced the purchase of a 48% stake in Santos Brasil in September 2024, acquiring Opportunity's share for R$ 6.3 billion.
In April 2025, the French company established a stake with 51% of the shares. Following this, in September, the company conducted a public offering to acquire all of the shares. From then on, the new owner took the company private and delisted from the B3 stock exchange.
Last August, NeoFeed revealed that the company had felt little impact from Trump's tariffs imposed on Brazilian exports. Since the arrival of CMA GCM, the route to the Asian continent, especially China, has gained strength for the company.
Until March 2025, the United States accounted for 19% of the total volume exported by Tecon Santos, a Santos Brasil company. With the new configuration, this percentage has fallen to 4.5%. On the other hand, Asia went from 28% to 45%.
Even with the change, the company's planned investments in Brazil will continue. By 2031, the company plans to invest R$ 3 billion in the expansion and modernization project of the Santos terminal. Of this amount, R$ 2 billion has already been invested.
On January 10th, the company received two new quay cranes and eight electric yard cranes from China at the Port of Santos. The investment in this equipment totaled R$ 300 million.
