CN: CEO Jean-Jacques Rouest has left for retirement

Canadian National (CN) announced the retirement of its president and CEO Tuesday after the failed acquisition of the Kansas City Southern (KCS) rail network.

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Jean-Jacques Rouest will officially leave his post next January, when his successor is found.

“NS. Smashing [avait] It has postponed its retirement plans in order to guide the company in the context of its potential merger with KCS and the closing of the deal, as well as in implementing the improvement plan announced on September 17, 2021, for which we can already see results,” the rail giant said in a brief press release.

For his part, the main stakeholder indicated that he is “convinced that the company is in a good position to continue moving forward after [sa] retirement”.

Mr Roest’s resignation has been requested by TCI Fund Management, a British investment firm that owns both CN and Canadian Pacific (CP), its eternal rival.

The fund was furious at CN’s bid to acquire KCS with a C$42 billion bid, which shocked about 20% from an earlier bid by CP.

In the process, CP had to review its takeover offer upwards, while KCS considered accepting CN’s offer, before changing its mind for fear of seeing the deal blocked by US authorities.

KCS’s withdrawal resulted in C$700 million in compensation.

Meanwhile, CNN said Tuesday that it posted a net profit of $1.34 billion in its third quarter, which ended on September 30. That’s a huge profit compared to its $3.59 billion operating income, which is primarily attributable to compensation received for the failed purchase of KCS.

“CN Dedicated Railroaders delivered strong financial and operating results this quarter despite the challenges of severe wildfires in western Canada, which resulted in a prolonged outage on CN’s main line bound for Vancouver in July,” said Mr. Roest in a newspaper. A statement presenting the financial results of a railway company.