Grupo TMM, KCS resolve dividend, bridge-lease disputes; meld Mexrail into TFM

Grupo Transportación Maritima Mexicana S.A. de C.V. (TMM) and Kansas City Southern March 27 announced they've resolved nearly three-month-old disputes.

KCS subsidiary NAFTA Rail in early January challenged in Mexican court Grupo TMM's approval of a dividend to Grupo TFM shareholders (KCS and Grupo TMM control TFM S.A. de C.V. through Grupo TFM), and TFM S.A. de C.V.’s lease of the northern half of the international railroad bridge at Laredo, Texas, from Mexrail, Inc. (KCS owns 49 percent of Mexrail; TMM, 51 percent).

Grupo TMM and KCS agreed to annul the dividend declared by Grupo TFM in December and terminate all litigation.

Also, Grupo TMM and KCS announced that Mexrail — which operated The Texas Mexican Railway Co. — recently was consolidated into TFM S.A. de C.V., generating $32.6 million for Grupo TMM and $31.3 million for KCS in first-quarter revenue.

TexMex operates from Laredo to Corpus Christi, Texas, and, via trackage rights to Beaumont, Texas, where it connects with KCS. Mexrail owned the northern half of the international bridge at Laredo, the primary railway bridge connecting Mexico and the United States. (TFM rail connects with TexMex over the international bridge.)

In a joint statement, Grupo TMM Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jose Serrano, and KCS Chairman, President and CEO Mike Haverty said the consolidation of Mexrail into TFM will better coordinate the companies' operations and open rail-market opportunities.