A proxy war has been all but declared, analysts say, after Canadian Pacific Railway announced Wednesday it had upped its hostile bid for Norfolk Southern Railway by some $3.4 billion.
It’s the second time the Calgary-based railroad has attempted to sweeten the pot after NS shareholders called CP’s first two offers “grossly inadequate” and CP CEO E. Hunter Harrison has shown less and less patience with a reluctant NS board.
“If this is going to be a street fight, so be it,” Harrison said on a conference call to discuss the revised proposal Wednesday.
Harrison said he was leaving the deal in the hands of the NS shareholders, and urged the railway’s board to consider his latest proposal even as skeptics continue to question whether a 21st century merger could gain U.S. regulatory approval.
