PARIS (Reuters), – CMA CGM, a shipping group, has reached an agreement to purchase the Fenix Marine Services container terminal in Los Angeles. The deal is worth approximately $2 billion and will allow it to expand its footprint in this critical hub of transpacific trade.

CMA CGM holds a 10% interest in FMS. It plans to acquire the remaining 90% of investment fund EQT Infrastructure III (NYSE:) Infrastructure III based upon an enterprise worth $2.3billion, CMA CGM said Wednesday.

CMA CGM France, one of the largest container shipping lines in the world, will pay approximately $1.8 billion to acquire the 90% stake. It will also finance the transaction from its own money, the company added.

Los Angeles ports handle huge freight volumes between China, the United States and China. They have been affected by increasing shipping congestion due to the global coronavirus pandemic that has disrupted supply and demand.

FMS is Los Angeles’ third largest container terminal. CMA CGM will take over 49 of these terminals, which it stated was already an investment.

“The swift recovery of the global economy has demonstrated the importance of ports and logistics infrastructure,” Rodolphe Saadé, chairman and CEO of CMA CGM, said in a statement.

It (FMS), is an important industrial facility that will support and strengthen our market position.”

CMA CGM is the terminal operator of FMS. It plans to make investments in the expansion and development of the site’s capacity, including the construction of a new shipberth and a container yard.

CMA CGM is expanding its presence in the logistics chain, just like other shipping companies.

Because of the pandemic, its earnings increased this year due to high freight rates.

FMS was acquired subject to regulatory approval. It marks a return by CMA CGM to terminal ownership that it previously sold to EQT.

CMA CGM then sold 90% of its stake to gain an enterprise value $875million. It did this in order to improve its finances after it acquired NOL (a Singapore-based shipping line).

CMA CGM estimates that the $2.3 billion enterprise value in FMS is 13.7 times FMS expected earnings (EBITDA) before interest, taxes, and amortisation in 2022.