12:47 PM EST, 03/05/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Last week, the Surface Transportation Board issued a decision accepting CN's application to acquire short line IANR while deeming the proposed acquisition qualifies as a "minor transaction". RBC views this as a positive for CN as "minor transactions" undergo a quicker review process and must be approved unless the STB finds a merger would harm competition. The STB's final decision on approval will be issued no later than July 26, 2024 with an effective date of August 25 or 30 days after the decision. This compares to CP's acquisition of KCS, which was deemed a "significant transaction" and which took two years to close. "Overall, we view the IANR transaction as a nice addition the CN's US Grain network in the Midwest and as giving grain customers in the region better access to markets across Canada and the US."

CN announced last week that a new tentative three -year collective agreement has been reached with the United Steelworkers (USW), which represent 2 ,500 track and bridge employees at CN, primarily responsible for track maintenance across Canada. While details of the tentative agreement will not be released publicly until the agreement is ratified, RBC nevertheless sees the resolution as a positive. That said, in the past, external disruptions, including cold weather, blockades, and strikes, have not affected share prices or valuation at the Canadian rails, despite the resulting (temporary) negative impact on quarterly results

Price: 176.19, Change: +0.22, Percent Change: +0.13