U.S. regulators have cleared the path for Canadian Pacific railroad's proposed $31 billion acquisition of Kansas City Southern railroad, the Associated Press reported.
The U.S. Surface Transportation Board dismissed concerns from Union Pacific that Canadian Pacific’s merger application lacked enough data on how shipments could be affected by the deal, AP said. The board said those details aren't required at this stage of the application. The board also turned down procedural requests by CSX, Canadian National and BNSF railroads to delay the Canadian Pacific application.
It went on to rule that Canadian Pacific's application is complete and set a tentative timeline for reviewing the application, the story said.
"The board finds that the application is complete as it contains all information required by the board’s regulations," the Surface Transportation Board said in a Nov. 23 news release. "In today’s decision, following public comment, the board adopts a procedural schedule that sets deadlines for comments, responsive applications, final briefs and other filings."
Any public hearing will be held "after the filing of final briefs, which are due on July 1, 2022," the news release said.
U.S. regulators haven't approved any railroad mergers since the 1990s, AP reported.
The board earlier declined a higher bid by Canadian National to buy Kansas City Southern, the story said.
The proposed deal includes 2.884 Canadian Pacific shares and $90 in cash for each Kansas City shareholder and the assumption of roughly $3.8 billion in debt, AP said.
The Kansas City Southern rail network "extends in a north-south corridor from Kansas City, south to the Pacific Ocean at the Port of Lazaro Cardenas, Mexico," the Surface Transportation Board said.