Posted on October 5, 2026
FedEx completed the sale of FedEx Supply Chain to CMA CGM on Thursday in a $1.4 billion deal. The business joins CEVA Logistics, CMA CGM’s logistics subsidiary, adding approximately 34 million square feet of warehouse space and nearly 10,000 employees.
The acquisition nearly triples CEVA’s North American contract logistics business, according to CMA CGM. The combined business operates about 150 warehouses, while CEVA’s overall North American presence includes more than 240 locations and about 20,000 employees.
Alongside the closing, CMA CGM and FedEx entered into multiyear commercial agreements covering air and ocean freight. CMA CGM will become a preferred ocean carrier for FedEx, and the companies plan to work together on air cargo services on key routes, including Asia-Europe.
The deal closes three months after the companies announced it on July 1. The sale lets FedEx focus more on its main transportation business.
A larger warehouse business for CEVA
FedEx Supply Chain handles services such as order fulfillment and product returns for major retailers. Its addition gives CEVA a larger base of warehouse operations and employees serving customers across the United States and Canada.
CMA CGM said the acquisition also adds experience in healthcare, technology, consumer goods, and retail. The company expects the combined businesses’ technology and operating expertise to help accelerate the use of warehouse automation and robotics, although its announcement did not provide a deployment schedule.
“The completion of this acquisition marks an important step in the development of CMA CGM and CEVA Logistics in North America,” said Rodolphe Saadé, chairman and CEO of CMA CGM Group.
Air and ocean agreements also part of deal
The ocean freight agreement is nonexclusive, meaning FedEx can continue working with other ocean carriers. Under the arrangement, CMA CGM will offer ocean transport and carrier services.
The planned air cargo agreement will cover selected routes. The companies say working together will help them use their aircraft more efficiently and provide more flexibility for long-haul freight.
When the deal was announced in July, the companies expected the air and ocean agreements to begin in phases through 2028. The closing announcement confirms the commercial agreements but does not provide an updated route-by-route rollout schedule.
FedEx sharpens its business focus
FedEx said the sale lets it concentrate resources on the strongest long-term opportunities. At the original announcement, the company identified healthcare, automotive, aerospace, and data centers as priorities.
“Today’s milestone demonstrates the continued progress we are making to execute our strategy with rigor and discipline,” said Raj Subramaniam, president and CEO of FedEx.
Feedback regarding the deal from industry observers, when it was initially announced, was largely positive.
Ben Gordon, founder and managing partner of Palm Beach, Florida-based Cambridge Capital, and managing partner of BGSA Holdings, noted that CMA CGM made a commitment prior to the April 2025 White House “Liberation Day” to make major investments into its U.S. operations, calling the acquisition of FedEx Supply Chain a step in that direction.
“FedEx made a decision to simplify and focus their business,” he said. “The spin-off of FedEx Freight is one step in that direction. The sale of the FedEx supply chain business is a second step in that direction. In this respect, it’s worth noting that they are following in the footsteps of XPO, which simplified its business through the spin-offs of GXO and RXO. Public market shareholders like to invest in pure play companies, and this is a step that the markets should like. In addition, management teams tend to do better when they are focused on doing one thing, and this move is consistent with that philosophy as well.”
Evan Armstrong, president of Brookfield, Wis.-based supply chain consultancy Armstrong & Associates noted that with roots in express small-package transportation, FedEx acquired GENCO Distribution in 2015 for $ 1.4 billion, believing it could be leveraged to increase small-package volumes. And he added that with this announcement that it is selling the GENCO-rebranded FedEx Supply Chain for the same $1.4 billion emphasizes that, at its heart, FedEx is a transportation provider and floundered in the Value-Added Warehousing & Distribution (VAWD) 3PL space.
“For CMA CGM, this deal will more than double CEVA’s North American VAWD network overnight,” said Armstrong. “North America has always been CEVA’s soft spot compared to its strength in Europe. Not anymore. GENCO’s traditional returns-and-reverse-logistics muscle becomes an engine for CEVA’s U.S. growth, supporting its longstanding experience in high-tech and automotive. CMA CGM becomes a preferred ocean carrier for FedEx, and it gains air-cargo capacity through a phased-in cooperation agreement through 2028, feeding its core ocean shipping and air freight forwarding businesses. Globally, it’s incremental. CEVA is already a Top-5 global 3PL (according to our list) with $18.3B in gross logistics revenue. This is a targeted North American bolt-on, not a step change at the group level.”
