Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Battle continues for Kansas City Southern

Canadian Pacific submits counter offer to CN deal; shareholders await STB decision.

2015-May.jpg

The tug-of-war between Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) and Canadian National (CN) for a merger with U.S. freight railway Kansas City Southern (KCS) continued this week, as CP offered a new merger proposal and KCS subsequently delayed a shareholder vote slated for later this month pending input from the U.S. Surface Transportation Board (STB).


On Tuesday, CP submitted an offer to acquire KCS in a stock and cash transaction of approximately $31 billion, saying the deal represents superior terms to its March merger proposal, which was ultimately rejected by KCS in favor of a $33.6 billion bid from CN. The CN/KCS deal is pending approval of its voting trust agreement from the STB, which has said it will issue its decision by August 31. KCS said Thursday it intends to adjourn its special meeting of shareholders slated for August 19 if the STB decision is not issued before August 17.

The moves mark yet another bump on the road to creating a continuous rail network spanning the North American continent and connecting Canada, the United States, and Mexico.

KCS also said Thursday that its board of directors unanimously determined that the proposal from CP does not constitute a superior proposal to its agreement with CN, and that the board continues to recommend shareholders vote for the proposed transaction with CN. Delaying the August 19 stockholder vote pending the STB decision will give “all shareholders and the Board time to receive and consider the STB decision,” KCS also said.

In a separate statement Thursday, CP officials applauded the move to delay the stockholder vote and reaffirmed its assertion that the CN/KCS deal would be anti-competitive.

Recent

More Stories

september import forecast NRF chart

Ports see import rush as dockworker strike looms

Container imports at U.S. ports are seeing another busy month as retailers and manufacturers hustle to get their orders into the country ahead of a potential labor strike that could stop operations at East Coast and Gulf Coast ports as soon as October 1.

Less than two weeks from now, the existing contract between the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance covering East and Gulf Coast ports is set to expire. With negotiations hung up on issues like wages and automation, the ILA has threatened to put its 85,000 members on strike if a new contract is not reached by then, prompting business groups like the National Retail Federation (NRF) to call for both sides to reach an agreement.

Keep ReadingShow less

Featured

containers stacked on ship

CIG: Container ship fires could be reduced by better data

A coalition of freight transport and cargo handling organizations is calling on countries to honor their existing resolutions to report the results of national container inspection programs, and for the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to publish those results.

Those two steps would help improve safety in the carriage of goods by sea, according to the Cargo Integrity Group (CIG), which is a is a partnership of industry associations seeking to raise awareness and greater uptake of the IMO/ILO/UNECE Code of Practice for Packing of Cargo Transport Units (2014) – often referred to as CTU Code.

Keep ReadingShow less
retail workers fulfilling orders

NRF: Retail sales continued to grow in August

Retail sales continued to grow in August, fueled by rising wages amid falling inflation, according to a National Retail Federation (NRF) analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data released yesterday.

By the numbers, overall retail sales in August were up 0.1% seasonally adjusted month over month and up 2.1% unadjusted year over year. That compared with increases of 1.1% month over month and 2.9% year over year in July.

Keep ReadingShow less
undersea fiberoptic cable

U.S., U.K., and Australia boost supply chain defenses

The U.S., U.K., and Australia will strengthen supply chain resiliency by sharing data and taking joint actions under the terms of a pact signed last week, the three nations said.

The agreement creates a “Supply Chain Resilience Cooperation Group” designed to build resilience in priority supply chains and to enhance the members’ mutual ability to identify and address risks, threats, and disruptions, according to the U.K.’s Department for Business and Trade.

Keep ReadingShow less
A warehouse worker in an orange vest looks at a tablet in front of racks piled with boxes.

MRO experts call for greater focus on business risks

A new survey finds a disconnect in organizations’ approach to maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO), as specialists call for greater focus than executives are providing, according to a report from Verusen, a provider of inventory optimization software.

Nearly three-quarters (71%) of the 250 procurement and operations leaders surveyed think MRO procurement/operations should be treated as a strategic initiative for continuous improvement and a potential innovation source. However, just over half (58%) of respondents note that MRO procurement/operations are treated as strategic organizational initiatives.

Keep ReadingShow less