SEATTLE -— Within a few weeks, Amazon.com will begin competing directly with longtime partners United Parcel Service, FedEx and DHL.

But not in the United States. At least, not yet.

Sometime in the first quarter, Amazon is expected to acquire the 75 percent of the French package-delivery company Colis Prive that it doesn’t already own. Though the French company is small relative to the multinational giants that move Amazon parcels around the globe, the acquisition will be the biggest step yet that the online retail giant has taken to move into the business of delivering packages for others, as well as itself.

Amazon has said little about its intentions. In 2014, it bought a 25 percent stake in Colis Prive. A spokesman told the French newspaper Le Figaro last year that the deal to acquire the rest of the company would close early this year. And the unidentified spokesman said Colis Prive will continue offering package delivery for all customers, not just Amazon.

“This purchase doesn’t call into question our work with all the other logistics providers (UPS, La Poste, DHL, FedEx),” the spokesperson told the French-language paper. “And it’s out of the question for Colis Prive to only deliver for Amazon. The company will continue developing its commercial portfolio.”

Amazon’s top spokesman, Craig Berman, declined to comment on Colis Prive or the company’s plans for the shipping business.

But some analysts believe that Amazon is putting together the pieces across the globe to launch a package-delivery service that will one day compete with UPS, FedEx and others.