FedEx to invest $1.5 billion in France to double capacity at Roissy airport

[October 18, 2016]  PARIS (Reuters) - Package delivery company FedEx Corp said on Tuesday it would invest 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion) to double the capacity of its logistics activities at Charles de Gaulle International Airport in the Paris suburb of Roissy.

French President Francois Hollande (3rdL) and CEO and President of Fedex Express David J. Bronczek (4thL) pose with the French employees of the company on the tarmac of the Roissy Charles de Gaulle Airport next to its hub during the presentation ceremony of the future extension hub in the North of Paris, France, October 18, 2016. REUTERS/Etienne Laurent/Pool
 

The initial investment by the U.S-listed firm will amount to 200 million euros ($220 million) for the extension of its facility in Roissy, the remaining 1.2 billion euros representing the guaranteed total amount of rent over 30 years.

Under the plan, the U.S. group plans to open a new package sorting facility in 2019, creating between 200 and 400 jobs, according to a document handed out during a visit by President Francois Hollande.

"The opening of this facility is an additional sign of France's attractiveness," Hollande said.

"With the decision by Britons to leave the European Union, it should lead us to attract even more investments," he added.

The extra 25,000 square meters of space will make FedEx's Roissy center its second biggest in the world after the one in Memphis in the United States.

Delivery service company TNT Express, which was bought in May by FedEx, also plans to open a new facility in the Parisian region, according to the same document.

(Reporting by Jean-Baptiste Vey; Writing by Mathieu Rosemain; Editing by Andrew Callus and Mark Potter)

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