Railroad News

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) yesterday welcomed Canadian Pacific's decision to terminate its six-month attempt to merge with Norfolk Southern Corp.

CP officials announced yesterday that the company has ended its merger attempt and will withdraw its resolution calling for NS shareholders to vote in favor of negotiations between the companies.

Canadian Pacific announced today that it will end its attempt to merge with Norfolk Southern Corp., and will withdraw a resolution calling for NS shareholders to vote in favor of negotiations between the companies.

CP plans "no further financial offers or overtures to meet with the NS board" at this time, according to a CP press release.

Canadian Pacific yesterday released another in a series of white papers that try to make the case for a proposed takeover of Norfolk Southern Railway.

The white paper details how the "precision railroad philosophy" that CP has applied to elevate its status from "industry laggard to leader" would transform NS to create a leading North American transcontinental railroad, according to a CP press release.

Canadian Pacific yesterday filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission a shareholder resolution that will ask Norfolk Southern Corp.'s board to engage in "good faith discussions" regarding CP's proposed merger with NS.

CP also filed a letter that will be sent to NS shareholders in which the Canadian Class I describes what it believes would be the merger's value to shareholders.

Canadian Pacific Railway filed a preliminary proxy statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that outlines the shareholder resolution that the railroad wants considered at Norfolk Southern Corp.'s upcoming annual meeting.

The resolution will ask shareholders to approve the resolution that would require the NS board to promptly engage in good faith discussions with CP regarding the Canadian railroad's merger proposal.

Canadian Pacific and the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, have agreed to terms for the railroad's sale of the Arbutus Corridor to the city for $55 million.

CP has been talking with city officials for many years about the corridor's future, said CP President and Chief Operating Officer Keith Creel in a press release.

Canadian Pacific is considering all of its legal options in response to major U.S. railroads that have publicly stated their opposition to its proposed takeover of Norfolk Southern Corp., CP announced Wednesday.

Other Class I railroads are working collectively to block CP's effort to "create a pro-customer, competition-enhancing combination" with NS, CP officials said in a prepared statement.

Canadian Pacific has petitioned the U.S. Surface Transportation Board (STB) for a declaratory order that would confirm the voting trust structure the railroad has proposed as part of its attempt to acquire Norfolk Southern Corp., CP officials announced yesterday.

The Class I filed the petition in response to CP and NS shareholder requests that the STB clarify its views on the voting trust model ahead of any formal application that CP would file, said CP Chief Executive Officer E. Hunter Harrison in a press release.

Canadian Pacific has received more than 80 letters from shippers in support of its proposed takeover of Norfolk Southern Corp., CP announced yesterday.

Sixty-two of the letters have been posted on the Surface Transportation Board (STB) website. The total number of letters to shippers in support of the proposed merger is now more than three for every one shipper letter in opposition, CP officials said in a prepared statement.

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) is leaning toward opposing a proposed merger between Canadian Pacific and Norfolk Southern Corp., a Pennsylvania newspaper reported this morning.

After touring Norfolk Southern Railway's Juniata Locomotive Shop in Altoona yesterday, Shuster said he was keeping an open mind but was currently leaning toward "no," the Altoona Mirror reported.

Canadian Pacific announced today it will ask the Surface Transportation Board (STB) to issue a declaratory order confirming the viability of a voting trust structure that the railroad has called for as part of its proposed takeover of Norfolk Southern Corp.

CP called on NS to assist "constructively in this effort," but will proceed regardless of its cooperation.

Canadian Pacific yesterday launched a new website that highlights what the Class I says would be the benefits of its proposed merger with Norfolk Southern Corp.

The website provides details of CP's proposal, along with details of its next steps in the effort to acquire NS, according to a CP press release.

Canadian Pacific appears to have dropped the proxy-fight strategy for its proposed acquisition of Norfolk Southern Corp. Yesterday, CP notified NS of its intent to submit a resolution to NS shareholders to ask the NS board to "engage in good faith discussions" with CP regarding the Class I's proposed takeover of NS, according to a Feb. 9 press release.

The shareholder resolution — which would be voted on at the NS annual meeting later this year — merely asks NS shareholders to formally vote "in favor of what they have been saying to CP anecdotally for months," CP said.

Canadian Pacific today released its third white paper on issues related to its proposed acquisition of Norfolk Southern Corp.

The latest paper, titled "CP-NS: A Comprehensive Approach to Regulatory Approval," details the comprehensive, merit-based process a railroad merger application would be subject to at the U.S. Surface Transportation Board, CP officials said in a press release.

The U.S. Surface Transportation Board (STB) has begun to receive letters from rail customers who are in favor of Canadian Pacific's proposed takeover of Norfolk Southern Corp.

Dakota Plains Holdings Inc. and multiple other shippers wrote last month to the STB to say they support CP's proposal to acquire NS. Until last week, most of the letters written to the STB were sent in opposition to the CP-NS merger.

Canadian Pacific announced Matthew Paull has been appointed to the board effective immediately, replacing Paul Hilal, who has resigned.

Hilal's departure coincides with his resignation from Pershing Square Capital Management L.P. A CP board member since 2012, Hilal chaired the board's Management Resources and Compensation Committee and was a member of the Finance Committee.

Canadian Pacific expects to reduce its workforce by about 1,000 employees in 2016, company officials said during an earnings conference call with analysts yesterday.

The job reductions are necessary to adjust to lower traffic volumes. Positions will be eliminated across the board, but most of the unionized positions will be eliminated by attrition, said Chief Executive Officer E. Hunter Harrison. Most of the cuts will have kicked in by the middle of 2016, he said.