KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Southern has followed through on plans to delay its vote on Canadian National’s merger offer, pending a ruling from the Surface Transportation Board on the voting trust that is a key portion of the merger plan.
KCS stockholders were set to vote on the deal Thursday, but that is now when a new date for the vote is slated to be announced. The railroad said last week it would delay the vote if the STB didn’t rule by Aug. 17 [see “KCS says Canadian Pacific’s latest merger offer falls short,” Trains News Wire, Aug. 12, 2021]. The STB has said it expects to rule on the voting trust by Aug. 31.
“If we do not have a decision from the STB, we think that is very important information for shareholders,” Kansas City Southern CEO Pat Ottensmeyer said, according to an Associated Press report. “We’re not going to ask shareholders to make a commitment without having that information.”
Canadian National and Canadian Pacific — which continues to pursue its own deal with KCS, despite its rejection by the KCS board — have both said they welcomed delaying the vote.
