M&A activity snapshot
Warehousing and fulfillment deals price above most of logistics. Capstone Partners reports sector EBITDA multiples declining from an average of 15.5x between 2019 and 2021 to 12.4x between 2022 and YTD 2025, as many sellers postponed exits waiting for better conditions. The segment is large: Armstrong & Associates sizes U.S. value-added warehousing and distribution at $72.7 billion in 2025, inside a $323.4 billion U.S. 3PL market.
The largest recent deals were cross-border and corporate carve-outs. GXO bought UK operator Wincanton for a total consideration of £762 million ($958 million) in 2024. In July 2026, FedEx announced that it would sell its FedEx Supply Chain business to CMA CGM Group for $1.4 billion. Americold agreed to contribute 12 cold storage facilities to the joint venture with an aggregate value in excess of $1.3 billion with EQT.
Below that tier the market is fragmented. BLS counts 17,848 private general warehousing establishments under NAICS 493110 in 2025.
Who is buying
Global contract logistics operators buy capability and geography. GXO paid $7.50 per share in cash, representing an equity value of approximately $181 million for U.S. e-commerce fulfillment provider PFSweb. Integrators and carriers add warehousing to their networks. Ryder acquired IFS, which specializes in contract packaging, contract manufacturing and warehousing, for an approximate purchase price of $255 million. UPS spent approximately $2.0 billion, net of cash acquired, on 2025 acquisitions that included healthcare logistics providers Frigo-Trans and Andlauer (AHG).
Cold-storage consolidators are the most active serial buyers. Lineage has executed 126 acquisitions since our first acquisition in 2008, including five in each of 2024 and 2025. Private equity backs regional 3PL platforms and add-ons; see the Transportation & Logistics overview for sponsor deal counts across 3PL.
What buyers look for
Contract quality. GXO says our warehouse lease arrangements generally align with contract length. A buyer wants the same from a target: no lease that outlives its customer. Pricing model. GXO runs both fixed-price contracts (closed book or hybrid contracts) and cost-plus contracts (open book contracts). Open-book work passes labor inflation through; closed-book work rewards efficiency but carries the risk.
Customer concentration. At scale, GXO's top five customers combined accounted for approximately 20% of our total revenue, and no customer represented more than 6%. A small 3PL with one customer filling a building will be priced for that risk.
Specialization. Cold chain, healthcare, food-grade, and bonded storage are harder to copy than general ambient storage. In cold storage, Lineage reports 46.1% of Lineage's storage revenues were subject to minimum storage guarantees. Food warehouses must register your facility with FDA, and the Food Traceability Rule's compliance date of July 20, 2028 is a diligence item for food-grade operators.
What makes a strong company
A warehousing or 3PL business that reaches the top of the range typically shows:
- Written multi-year customer contracts, with renewal history. Armstrong & Associates notes value-added warehousing contracts typically have terms ranging from one to three years, with some extending up to ten years or more.
- Facility leases that end no earlier than, and not long after, the contracts they serve.
- Minimum-volume or minimum-storage guarantees, especially in cold storage.
- No single customer that fills most of a building.
- A warehouse management system and processes a buyer can integrate.
- Stable hourly labor, documented safety, and clean FDA, customs, or hazmat registrations where relevant.
Valuation and deal structure
Multiples in this segment come mostly from larger deals. In its sale to GXO, PFSweb's board disclosed precedent warehousing and order-fulfillment transactions with a median of 11.6x LTM adjusted EBITDA, and the GXO offer priced PFSweb at 11.8x. Capstone's 2022-2025 sector average of 12.4x EBITDA is consistent with that range. No major data provider publishes a separate multiple series for small, single-site 3PLs, which typically trade below these figures because of customer concentration and short contracts.
Structure follows the real estate. Many deals buy the operating business and leave buildings with landlords or customers, which is why 479 facilities were owned or leased by our customers in GXO's network. Cold-storage owners sometimes separate property value through joint ventures, as Americold did with EQT. These are market data points, not a valuation of any single business; owners can get a starting estimate from Axia's valuation tool.
Outlook
Demand for warehouse space is firming. Cushman & Wakefield reports the U.S. industrial vacancy rate fell 10 bps to 6.9% at midyear, with 3PL providers and manufacturers representing more than 55% of total activity YTD. Prologis signed over 67 million square feet of leases, a record level, in Q2 2026.
Outsourcing demand is also growing. GXO reported $410 million of new business wins, up 34% year over year in Q2 2026. Over the next 12-24 months, expect buyers to keep paying for specialized, contracted warehousing and automation-ready operations, while short-contract general storage stays priced at a discount. For how buyers source these businesses, see vertical-focused deal sourcing.