WASHINGTON — While Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern prepare to file a revised merger application in late April, federal regulators are requesting specific data related to their proposal to create the first U.S. transcontinental railroad.
The request for documents to be submitted prior to the revised application likely could include highly sensitive data related to the $85 billion deal — the first to be evaluated under more stringent rules enacted in 2001 after mergers in the 1990s led to serious rail service meltdowns.
The request included in a seven-page decision released Wednesday, March 18, follows a March 3 letter to the STB from the Department of Justice saying such documents are of “critical importance” and reflect real-time business decisions and forecasts concerning the merging companies’ operations, and forecasts of future market conditions.
The DOJ said such documentation is typical when it and the Federal Trade Commission review mergers, guided by the Hart-Scott-Rodino antitrust legislation.
The regulator asked for internal reports, confidential memoranda, and studies by the companies’ bankers, consultants and other advisors evaluating the acquisition “with respect to market shares, competition, competitors, markets, potential for sales growth, and expansion into new product or geographic markets.”
Data covering synergies and efficiencies that are expected to be produced by the merger were also included in the request.
UP said in a statement that it “remains committed to following the STB process and will be responding to the requests for the information they need to evaluate this historic merger.”
— A version of this article originally appeared at FreightWaves.com. To report news or errors, contact trainsnewswire@firecrown.com.
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