Monday is the last day that stakeholders can express their views to the Surface Transportation Board over CN’s proposed voting trust that will be used to acquire KCS. Canadian Pacific says it has the support of North Dakota congressional leaders, while CN touts support from Gulf Coast and southern Plains leaders.
Canadian Pacific and CN each say they have the backing of Upper Midwest grain shippers as both seek to merge with Kansas City Southern.
CN and Canadian Pacific are rounding up support for their respective plans to acquire Kansas City Southern. Regulators are accepting public comments on CN’s voting trust through next Monday. CN would use the voting trust as part of the process to acquire KCS.
CN continues to insist that it has widespread support for its plans to acquire Kansas City Southern. That support includes the voting trust proposal that CN would use as part of the merger process.
The Surface Transportation Board is accepting public comments on CN’s and Kansas City Southern’s voting trust proposal. KCS asserts its financial strength while Canadian Pacific circulates a union’s negative feedback on the CN-KCS merger.
Former Surface Transportation Board Vice Chairman William Clyburn Jr. recommends that STB approve the voting trust proposed by CN and Kansas City Southern.
The American Chemistry Council, which represents chemicals shippers, wants the Surface Transportation Board to scrutinize proposed Class I rail mergers to ensure that shippers don’t encounter reduced offerings.
CSX needs more data in its market analysis, the Surface Transportation Board said. CSX plans to resubmit its application.
To sweeten the voting trust application before regulators, CN and Kansas City Southern are offering to divest 70 miles of a KCS line in an area of Louisiana where both railroads have competing lines in order to create an “end-to-end” network.
Kansas City Southern has opted for CN’s merger offer. It is terminating an existing merger agreement it has with Canadian Pacific.
Canadian Pacific wants Kansas City Southern to reject CN’s competing merger offer. The railway also said it won’t engage in a bidding war.
Following the Surface Transportation Board’s decision on Monday regarding CN’s proposed merger with Kansas City Southern, both CN and Canadian Pacific remained confident that each is the better suitor for KCS.
The Surface Transportation Board has decided that it would review a proposed merger between CN and Kansas City Southern under newer, stricter merger rules. The board also denied for now CN’s request to form a voting trust, saying CN’s application is incomplete.
CN revised its bid to acquire KCS; CP said it will not seek to counterbid.
Rivals Canadian Pacific and CN separately submit more statements of support to the Surface Transportation Board in a bid to show which Canadian railway is best suited to merge with Kansas City Southern.
The Surface Transportation Board has approved the voting trust that Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern plan to make as part of the merger process between the two companies.
CN and Canadian Pacific continue to campaign for the hearts and votes of Kansas City Southern stakeholders and the Surface Transportation Board.
The Canadian railway CN and Kansas City Southern have agreed to talk about CN’s acquisition bid. Canadian Pacific, which has a competing offer, acknowledges the meeting. CN also submits letters of support from stakeholders to regulators.
Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Oregon, chair of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, is concerned that efforts by rival Canadian railways to acquire Kansas City Southern could usher in more consolidations in the freight rail sector.
The Surface Transportation Board will need to scrutinize a proposed merger between Kansas City Southern and either Canadian Pacific or CN to ensure it doesn’t hurt the operations of competing railroads, Union Pacific’s head said on the company’s first-quarter earnings call.
