Dubai-based ports operator DP World has acquired Cosmos Agencia Maritima (Cam) of Peru for $315.7m.

The Peruvian firm owns fully integrated logistics service businesses called Neptunia and Triton Transport, which provide a platform  for foreign trade, product storage and distribution, as well as freight services for industry-specific projects.

Cam also has a 50 per cent shareholding in Terminales Portuarios Euroandinos at the Port of Paita, Peru’s second largest container terminal.

According to Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, DP World group chairman and CEO, the Dubai operator expects the acquisition to help improve solutions offered to customers as well as the option of alternative container capacity. “Overall, we expect this acquisition to further diversify our revenue, improve the quality of our earnings and drive returns,” Bin Sulayem said in a statement.

The transaction further expands DP World’s presence in Latin America, where it already operates a container terminal in the port of Callao in Peru.

In December last year, DP World became the full owner of Brazil’s Empresa Brasileira de Terminais Portuários (Embraport), after it acquired the 66.7 per cent stake of local Odebrecht Transport (OTP) in the company.

The terminal was rebranded DP World Santos, following the acquisition, which was valued at about $540m.

On 15 March, DP World said it plans to invest up to $1.4bn in 2018 in the UAE, Ecuador, Somaliland, South Korea, Mozambique and Egypt.

The firm reported a profit of $1.21bn in 2017, a 7.3 per cent increase on the previous year.