CN has filed a motion with the Surface Transportation Board to compel additional information in relation to the proposed merger agreement between Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern.
CN said its motion shows that the applicants have not been upfront about their assessment, failing to outline the full extent of competitive harms resulting from the merger, one of many problems with the application.
CN said its latest motion builds on earlier filings, saying the application included a number of other shortcomings:
- Incomplete market analyses
- Missing projections for market shares by revenues and traffic volumes
- Incomplete network map
- Failure to propose competitive enhancements
“Given the scale and stakes of the proposed combination, the applicants must meet the highest standard of transparency and compliance,” CN Senior Vice-President and Chief Legal Officer Olivier Chouc said in a release. “The information the applicants refuse to disclose is critical to understand their perspective on anticipated competitive harms and inform the Board’s public-interest and competition analyses.
“Rather than hide behind an inapt legal argument, the applicants should welcome the opportunity for a transparent and fulsome discussion about the merger’s impact on competition,” Chouc added. “Rather than trying to convince everyone that there is ‘nothing to see here’, the applicants should instead be focused on meeting the rigorous and heightened standard called for by the new merger rules.”
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