pabradyphoto/iStock Editorial via Getty Images
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is urging a U.S. railroad regulator to block Canadian Pacific’s (NYSE:CP) combination with Kansas City Southern.
Canadian Pacific (CP) closed on its acquisition of Kansas City Southern in December 2021, winning a bidding war over rival Canadian National Railway (CNI) for KSU. Following close. ownership of KSU is held in a voting trust while the Surface Transportation Board reviews the combination.
Warren said the acquisition would “reduce competition in an already highly consolidated market and could cause increased shipping costs” and “could result in significant job losses and service disruptions that negatively impact American supply chains,” Warren wrote in a letter to the regulator obtained by Reuters.
The STB is expected to make a decision on the railroad transaction by the end of the month, according to the Reuters report.
Warren’s plea comes after the U.S. Dept. of Justice in January also urged the STB to block the merger. The DOJ said it was reiterating comments it first made in April 2021 that the the railroad regulatory had “serious concerns” about increasing consolidation in the industry.
Warren has been busy trying to block deals in the past year. Warren wrote a letter to the FTC on in January expressing her concerns about Amgen’s (AMGN) plan to buy Horizon Therapeutics (HZNP) and Indivior’s plan to buy Opiant Pharmaceuticals (OPNT). In September, Warren urged the DOJ to block JetBlue’s (JBLU) purchase of Spirit Airlines (SAVE).