CP, KCS file merger application with STB

Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern have jointly filed a railroad control application with the Surface Transportation Board (STB) regarding their proposed merger, which would create the only single-line railroad linking the United States, Mexico and Canada.

The new railroad would be called Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC). The control application provides an overview of the proposed operational integration of the CP and KCS rail networks, the impact of that consolidation on the companies’ finances and labor needs, and the anticipated competitive and other benefits, CP and KCS officials said Oct. 29 in a press release.

Information in the filing outlines the public and customer benefits a CP-KCS combination would bring, including more efficient north-south trade arteries to support the interconnected supply chains of the United States, Mexico and Canada, they said.

The joint control application reiterates the applicants’ commitment to keep all existing freight rail gateways open on commercially reasonable terms, including the Laredo gateway between the United States and Mexico, they said. It also shows how customers will not lose competitive routings because no new regulatory “bottlenecks” are being created, they said.

It also describes how the combined company will compete aggressively to attract traffic to its network via new single-line lanes between Canada, the Upper Midwest and the Gulf Coast, Texas and Mexico.

CP has agreed to acquire KCS in a stock and cash transaction for about $31 billion, which includes the assumption of $3.8 billion of outstanding KCS debt. The proposal values KCS at $300 per share.