The U.S. Surface Transportation Board (STB) has dealt a blow to Canadian National Railway 's (NYSE: CNI) effort to acquire Kansas City Southern (NYSE: KSU) , ruling that the suitor's application to create a voting trust to help streamline the deal is incomplete, and determining any consideration of the proposed deal would be done under a tough set of merger rules.
Canadian National last month launched a surprise $33.6 billion takeover effort for Kansas City Southern, looking to upend an agreement between the American rail line and Canadian Pacific Railway (NYSE: CP) . Last week, Kansas City Southern's board officially determined that Canadian National's offer was superior to Canadian Pacific's $30 billion agreement, seemingly putting Canadian National in the lead to win the bidding war.
Image source: Kansas City Southern.
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U.S. Regulator Deals Canadian National Takeover Effort a Blow