
News reports say that BNSF Railway has hired Goldman Sachs to advise it about a potential rail merger.
Semafor, an online publication, reported this evening that BNSF has engaged Goldman Sachs in the wake of Union Pacific working with Morgan Stanley regarding potential mergers. Both reports cited people familiar with the matter. The railroads and investment banks declined to comment.
The report said it was not clear whether BNSF was interested in CSX or Norfolk Southern. NS is reportedly the target of Union Pacific, and the two railroads have been in merger talks since the first quarter, the Associated Press reported last week.
There has not been a big merger involving the major Class I systems since the Surface Transportation Board adopted tighter merger review regulations in 2001.
So you want to go back to the days of the ICC/etc. where you could serve this city but not that city and you have frozen rates which means no body made money, plus labor strikes du jour.
You think the government can do better moving a box of widgets than the private sector?
Let’s recall that the rail business is both complex and surprising… Perhaps CSX might be a better fit for Union Pacific than NS… Note that any merger would require approval from the STB, which could take up to two years.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, bigger is not better. These big railroads cat manage what they have now.
There’s big money to be made, not earned mind you, but made doing these mergers and acquisitions. BNSF has the deep pockets of its parent company to outbid UP for its choice of partner. The trick to the whole affair will be buttering up the POTUS for easy regulatory approval.
Nothing will come of this, mergers are done.
They can talk all day, nothing wrong with it, but its a cross not worth bearing.
Monoplists gotta do what monoplists do. An industry that hasn’t grown in 20 years with 40% margins doesn’t bode well for the customers, the public or environment. Trumpism will rubber stamp these monsterous mergers.
Government deregulation has utterly failed. Trains has trumpeted dereg as a great success for over 40 years, dutifully parroting industry PR. In reality, workers have taken a beating, customers have no choices, rates are priced ABOVE inflation and the executives and Wall Street rake in billions. IT HAS FAILED.
At some point the failed Reagan-Thatcher-Clinton neoliberalism will collapse on itself (just look around!) And 2 new monopolies will be easier to nationalize for the public good than a few dozen in Conrail’s day.