Canadian Pacific Railway to buy Kansas City Southern for $25 billion

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A Kansas City Southern (KSC) Railway locomotive passes by way of Knoche Yard in Kansas City, Missouri, on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2020.

Whitney Curtis | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Canadian Pacific Railway on Sunday mentioned it has agreed to buy Kansas City Southern for $25 billion in a cash-and-shares deal to create the primary rail community connecting the United States, Mexico, and Canada, betting on a pick-up in North American commerce.

Shareholders of Kansas City Southern will obtain 0.489 of a Canadian Pacific share and $90 in money for every KCS widespread share held, the businesses mentioned in a joint assertion. The deal, which has an enterprise worth of $29 billion together with debt, values Kansas City Southern at $275 per share, representing a 23% premium to Friday’s closing value of $224.16.

The transaction is the largest M&A launched in 2021.

“The new competitors we are going to inject into the North American transportation market can’t occur quickly sufficient, as the brand new USMCA Trade Agreement amongst these three nations makes the environment friendly integration of the continent’s provide chains extra essential than ever earlier than,” Canadian Pacific Chief Executive Keith Creel mentioned within the assertion. “This will create the primary U.S.-Mexico-Canada railroad.”

The new and modernized U.S.-Mexico-Canada commerce pact took impact in July final yr, changing the sooner deal that lasted 26 years, and is predicted to additional foster manufacturing and agriculture commerce actions among the many three nations.

Kansas City Southern’s board has accredited the bid and the 2 firms have notified the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to search the company’s required approval. Canadian railroad operators’ makes an attempt to buy U.S. rail firms have met restricted success due to antitrust considerations.

Creel will proceed to function CEO of the mixed firm, which shall be headquartered in Calgary, the assertion mentioned.

The deal comes amid expectations of a pick-up in U.S.-Mexico commerce after Joe Biden changed Donald Trump as U.S. president.

The firms additionally highlighted the environmental advantages of the deal, saying the brand new single-line routes that might be created by the mix are anticipated to shift vehicles off crowded U.S. highways, and minimize emissions.

Rail is 4 instances extra gasoline environment friendly than trucking, and one prepare can maintain greater than 300 vehicles off public roads and produce 75% much less greenhouse gasoline emissions, the businesses mentioned in a joint assertion.

Shareholders in Kansas City Southern are anticipated to personal 25% of Canadian Pacific’s excellent widespread shares after the deal, the businesses mentioned.

Canadian Pacific mentioned it’ll problem 44.5 million new shares and lift about $8.6 billion in debt to fund the transaction.

The Financial Times first reported on the deal.

Calgary-based Canadian Pacific is Canada’s No. 2 railroad operator, behind Canadian National Railway Co Ltd, with a market worth of $50.6 billion.

It owns and operates a transcontinental freight railway in Canada and the United States. Grain haulage is the corporate’s greatest income driver, accounting for about 58% of bulk income and about 24% of complete freight income in 2020.

Kansas City Southern has home and worldwide rail operations in North America, targeted on the north-south freight hall connecting industrial and industrial markets within the central United States with industrial cities in Mexico.

Canadian Pacific’s newest try to increase its U.S. enterprise comes after it dropped a hostile $28.4 billion bid for Norfolk Southern Corp in April 2016. Canadian Pacific’s merger talks with CSX Corp, which owns a big community throughout the jap United States, failed in 2014.

A bid by Canadian National Railway Co, the nation’s greatest railroad, to buy Warren Buffett-owned Burlington Northern Santa Fe was blocked by U.S. antitrust authorities in 1999-2000.

BMO Capital Markets and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC are serving as monetary advisors to Canadian Pacific, whereas BofA Securities and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC are serving as monetary advisors to Kansas City Southern. 



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