(Reuters circulated the following article on November 17.)
MEXICO CITY — Mexican copper miner Grupo Mexico said on Thursday it will go to court in an attempt to annul an anti-trust commission ruling that rejected the merger of the firm’s two railroad companies.
Grupo Mexico’s head of international relations, Juan Rebolledo, said if the company failed to have the commission’s ruling annulled, it would seek an injunction.
“First the annulment, and then, if necessary we would look for an injunction,” he said.
In its formal notification to the affected companies, which include the Mexican subsidiary of U.S. rail firm Kansas City Southern the anti-trust body said the merger would give Grupo Mexico too much power over clients and competitors.
Grupo Mexico bought Ferrosur from Mexican magnate Carlos Slim in 2005 in a deal worth $307 million. Together, the two units, Ferromex and Ferrosur, would control 54 percent of the Mexican railroad market.
In December, Kansas City Southern presented a formal complaint to the anti-trust commission arguing that the merged company would control important routes and squeeze out competition.
Kansas City Southern has requested the anti-trust body force Grupo Mexico to sell or divest assets in Ferrosur.
The final details of the ruling have not yet been made public, but Rebolledo said the decision did not require Grupo Mexico to sell all or part of Ferrosur.
“It does not require us to sell and neither does it fine us,” he said.