United Parcel Service Inc. said it agreed to buy shipping-services provider Coyote Logistics LLC for $1.8 billion, which would expand its presence in the burgeoning freight-brokerage business and help it handle the volatility of its peak holiday season.

UPS, which is acquiring Coyote from private-equity firm Warburg Pincus LLC, said Friday that it expects the addition to eventually boost profits by $100 million to $150 million and start adding to earnings in 2016.

That is in part because UPS has since 2012 been contracting with Coyote to find extra truck space to help haul the increasing flood of holiday e-commerce, UPS Chief Commercial Officer Alan Gershenhorn said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

The delivery giant has been working on increasing profitability and reducing costs after tough back-to-back holiday seasons.

An especially attractive addition to UPS's portfolio will be Coyote's proprietary technology which enables it to find and sell empty space on trucks, Mr. Gershenhorn said. UPS has about seven million empty trip segments annually on its own trucks, as it drives between delivery centers and other destinations. Coyote will help it fill that space, which will make UPS more efficient and should boost revenue.

"If Coyote gets a match that fits our system and that meets the needs of the customer, then UPS will move that," he said. UPS also will offer its customers use of the technology to fill their own empty trucks.

In a separate matter, FedEx Corp. hit some regulatory scrutiny on the acquisition front. The European Commission on Friday opened an in-depth investigation into its nearly $5 billion deal to buy Dutch delivery company TNT Express NV, saying it was concerned about the merged company's dominance in international delivery in some markets.

The regulator said it would take until Dec. 8 to decide whether it will approve the deal or ask for concessions to ease its concerns. The two other large international delivery companies, UPS and DHL Worldwide Express Inc., may not provide sufficient competition to the merged company, the antitrust watchdog said.

On its earnings call in June, FedEx executives said they did "not believe that the transaction faces any competition issues for the Commission." A similar attempt to acquire TNT by UPS collapsed in 2013 when it failed to satisfy European regulators.

Analysts said the review of the FedEx-TNT deal wasn't surprising, given its size, and that it was largely expected by the market.

The deals are the latest in a series of mergers and acquisitions in the transportation industry as more traditional companies seek new ways to grow in a rapidly changing global economic and technological environment. Companies ranging from Amazon.com Inc. to Uber Technologies Inc. are entering the delivery arena, as smartphones enable rapid logistical advances not possible a decade ago.

Meanwhile, price, not speed, has become most important to consumers and shippers in an e-commerce world built on the promise of free shipping.

As delivery companies look for growth, third-party logistics providers like Coyote are becoming more attractive. Revenue from those U.S. logistics providers rose 7.4% to $157.2 billion last year, faster than the 2.8% growth in logistics spending overall, according to research firm Armstrong & Associates.

FedEx acquired logistics company GENCO Distribution System Inc., a company that specializes in product returns, for $1.4 billion earlier this year. UPS said that Coyote Logistics has been growing in the double digits and earned $2.1 billion in revenues in 2014.

Europe has also become increasingly attractive for growth. UPS has said it is doubling its investment there to nearly $2 billion over five years, while XPO Logistics Inc. earlier this year said it was purchasing French contract-logistics firm Norbert Dentressangle SA in a deal valued at $3.53 billion.

As for the FedEx deal, TNT Express said in a release that the extended review by the European Commission is customary. FedEx said it continues to make progress on regulatory steps around the world, which would allow it to complete the transaction in the first half of 2016.

"We will continue to work together with TNT Express to meet the European Commission's need for additional due diligence and are confident that the combination of both companies will increase competition and create benefits for customers," said FedEx's Patrick Fitzgerald, senior vice president integrated marketing and communications.

Gabriele Steinhauser contributed to this article.

Write to Laura Stevens at laura.stevens@wsj.com

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