During the
"So, were my eyes opened yesterday when I read the press release? The truth is yes, the headline number was undeniably eye-opening: 325 bucks (US per share)," Creel said.
"But the reality is that only matters if its attainable. Unrealized value is still equal to zero. If you can't do the deal, if it's not doable, you never get there."
In response to an analyst's question, Creel said on the call CP is not considering increasing its bid for KCS because it doesn't want to put its balance sheet at risk.
On Tuesday,
Earlier on Wednesday, CP said is it is appealing to the
"Because of the far more serious public interest concerns posed by CN's proposed acquisition of KCS, CN's suggestion that its proposal should be subject to the same regulatory treatment as the CP-KCS transaction is incorrect," CP said in a news release ahead of its annual general meeting.
"Whereas a Canadian Pacific transaction raises none of the issues that motivated the new merger rules in 2001, the CN proposal raises all of them, especially competitive and downstream consolidation concerns."
CP charges that a CN-KCS merger would "destabilize" the rail network balance in
CP has asked the
It says the STB should make it clear that CN's bid will not qualify for the same exemption.
Also Wednesday, CN announced that it has notified the STB that it intends to apply for authority to combine with KCS under current merger rules and also seeking approval of its plan to employ a voting trust so that KCS shareholders can be paid out while awaiting final STB approval.
“We believe the STB and our customers will recognize that CN presents the best solution for the continued growth, development and prosperity of the North American economy,” said CEO
“CN has made a superior proposal and is committed to satisfying the current STB merger rules. CN is confident that the STB will approve the voting trust, which will permit KCS shareholders to crystallize the value of its
The company said it is confident it can address any reasonable remediation concerns and it supports an STB review under modern rules, as opposed to "rules from four decades ago that have been opposed by virtually every other party to have filed before the STB."
KCS's rail assets in
A CN-KCS combination would be the third-largest Class 1 railroad in
CN noted a combined CN-KCS would be the fifth-largest railway by network length in
There was only brief mention of the proposed KCS merger at the CP annual meeting on Wednesday morning, where shareholders voted 99 per cent in favour of a share-split resolution to issue five new CP shares for each existing share.
After markets closed, CP reported first-quarter net income of
Analysts had expected net income of
This report by
Companies in this story: (TSX:CP, TSX:CNR)
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