The
The promise is part of a motion CN and KCS jointly filed with the
CN chief executive JJ Ruest said the trust is an essential step so KCS shareholders can receive the full value of their shares while the STB reviews the takeover.
"So I think this morning, we filed a lot of what the STB is looking for and providing a lot of substance and detail to some of the questions that they raised earlier last week," Ruest told an investor conference.
He said the Canadian railway read the STB's comments about a trust being a privilege and must be in the public interest and addressed those concerns.
"We are confident our filing will demonstrate why our combination is pro-competitive, that it will provide economic growth and that it will realize multiple network benefits across the continent."
KCS formally backed the CN offer last week over an earlier deal with
CP chief executive
"Even after last week, CP is not deterred in our collective conviction for this perfect combination remains the same. We believed then and we believe now that our proposal between CP and KCS is a perfect marriage between two rail networks that serves the public's best interests as well as serving all stakeholders' best interests."
He said selling off the
"There's competitive concerns that's not isolated to 65 miles as some would suggest," he said in reference to the line CN proposes to sell.
KCS chief executive
"Our board considered really all aspects of the transaction: value, risk across the board, not just at the front end but across the integration and the future outlook of the combined networks and determined that this was a superior transaction," he said, adding that details of the process will be included in the proxy statement that should be available in the next few weeks.
He said KCS will operate independently during the voting trust period with former CEO
"We're very confident that this will satisfy the STB's requirements for independence and are confident that, that will lead to an approval of the voting trust."
The sale agreement still needs approval from KCS shareholders as well as regulatory approval from the STB, the
STB decision on CN's voting trust is expected some time in June with the deal expected to close in late 2022.
Ruest said that on the "outside chance" that the takeover isn't approved, CN will talk with KCS and decide at that time the most appropriate action.
Analyst
"As such, if CN’s voting trust application is denied, the financial hit has already been more than reflected in the decline in its market cap," he wrote in a report.
This report by
Companies in this story: (TSX:CNR)
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