Surface Transportation Board (STB) Chairman Martin J. Oberman has called on the CEOs of the seven North American Class I’s to provide an update on their preparedness to meet service demands, particularly as railroad employment rates have fallen.
The war of words between Canadian Pacific and CN isn’t over, with CP on May 27 issuing a statement that its merger rival’s commitment to divest Kansas City Southern’s New Orleans-Baton Rouge line is a “token divestment [that] would not begin to address the competitive issues in the rail corridors running north from Louisiana and Mississippi through America’s heartland, where KCS and CN have historically competed.”
Proposed merger partners CN and Kansas City Southern (KCS) have filed with the Surface Transportation Board (STB) a renewed motion for voting trust approval, which includes a commitment to divest a 70-mile line overlap in Louisiana.
CN and Kansas City Southern (KCS) on May 21 entered into a definitive merger agreement that, barring an unexpected twist, ends weeks of a tug of war between CN and Canadian Pacific.
Canadian Pacific President and CEO Keith Creel on May 20 responded to the Kansas City Southern Board of Directors and President and CEO Pat Ottensmeyer calling on them to reject CN’s counter-proposal “in light of intervening events” and stay with “the achievable, compelling value under the pre-existing merger agreement” with CP. Creel also confirmed that CP will not engage in a bidding war with CN.
On May 19, we hosted a call with a noted transportation attorney to discuss the latest news surrounding the proposed merger involving KSU/CP/CNI. The STB decision on May 17 indicates more caution surrounding voting trusts; CNI must show that the trust keeps a level playing field. The key for CNI will be that public benefits outweigh harms.
MidRail LLC Chairman Gil Lamphere offers his views on the competition between Canadian Pacific and CN to acquire Kansas City Southern, discussing the details of voting trusts and the role of the
The Surface Transportation Board (STB) decided May 17 that CN’s proposed merger with Kansas City Southern (KCS) will be reviewed under its current merger rules and CN’s motion to approve a proposed voting trust agreement has been denied as incomplete, “without prejudice to filing a new motion.”
In a May 14 filing with the Surface Transportation Board, the United States Department of Justice has said CN’s application for a voting trust to acquire Kansas City Southern should be denied, because the proposed merger “raises sufficient competition concerns.”
Canadian Pacific President and CEO Keith Creel, Executive Vice President Operations Mark Redd and Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer John Brooks discuss CP’s proposed merger with Kansas City Southern with