Canadian Pacific (CP) Railway and Kansas City Southern (KCS) have now received the necessary regulatory pre-transaction control approvals from Mexican authorities regarding their potential merger.
These came from the Mexican Federal Economic Competition Commission (COFECE) and the Mexican Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT).
This marks a new milestone in the epic merger saga, bringing it one step closer to creating the first single-line rail network linking the United States, Mexico and Canada.
“We're very excited to be working with CP to bring the benefits of this end-to-end combination to fruition.
“Together we’ll unlock the full potential of our networks to provide new single-line offerings and industry-best service that will dramatically expand competitive transportation options across North America.”
The two companies have faced many challenges to get to this point, including a rival bid from Canadian National in May.
A CN-KCS merger voting trust was rejected by the Surface Transportation Board (STB) in September, which was followed by approval of a voting trust for the CP-KCS merger later the same month.
Completion of the merger is still subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including approval from both companies’ stockholders.
Votes are scheduled to take place regarding the merger on 8 and 10 December.
If the transaction is approved, it’s expected to be completed by 14 December.
