QUEBEC's Caisse de Depot et Placement has backed the Quebec-based Canadian National (CN), claiming criticism of the railway's strategy by Christopher Hohn's Transportation Consultants International (TCI) Fund Management Ltd is not justified, reports Bloomberg News.
'We thought it was a good deal. These kind of opportunities happen very rarely,' said Caisse de Depot et Placement CEO Charles Edmond.
'The outcome was different than expected, but they were rigorous in the process,' said Mr Edmond.
Mr Edmond questioned TCI's motivation in rejecting the proposed merger, noting that firm is also a large shareholder in Canadian National's rival, Canadian Pacific Railway.
'It's pretty rare you actually see an activist sitting on both sides of the trade with two potential buyers. So one has to understand or question what are the real motivations here,' said Mr Edmond.
TCI owns a 8.3 per cent stake in Canadian Pacific valued at US$3.6 billion. It owns 5.2 per cent of Canadian National, a stake valued at $4.2 billion.
'From my perspective, the management team is actually quite on top of it and has a plan. As to what TCI wants to do with that, we'll see,' said Mr Edmond.
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'We thought it was a good deal. These kind of opportunities happen very rarely,' said Caisse de Depot et Placement CEO Charles Edmond.
'The outcome was different than expected, but they were rigorous in the process,' said Mr Edmond.
Mr Edmond questioned TCI's motivation in rejecting the proposed merger, noting that firm is also a large shareholder in Canadian National's rival, Canadian Pacific Railway.
'It's pretty rare you actually see an activist sitting on both sides of the trade with two potential buyers. So one has to understand or question what are the real motivations here,' said Mr Edmond.
TCI owns a 8.3 per cent stake in Canadian Pacific valued at US$3.6 billion. It owns 5.2 per cent of Canadian National, a stake valued at $4.2 billion.
'From my perspective, the management team is actually quite on top of it and has a plan. As to what TCI wants to do with that, we'll see,' said Mr Edmond.
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