(Reuters circulated the following article on October 2.)
MEXICO CITY — Mexico is investigating railroad companies Ferromex and Ferrosur to see if they are operating in collusion, months after the anti-trust agency denied them permission to merge, the watchdog said on Monday.
Mining giant Grupo Mexico announced in November that tycoon Carlos Slim had sold it his Ferrosur rail business in exchange for a $310 million stake in the miner’s ITF transport business, which operates Ferromex.
Grupo Mexico planned to merge the new rail line with its transport company, known officially as Infraestructura y Transportes Ferroviarios.
But the Federal Competition Commission blocked the merger on grounds it would create Mexico’s largest rail company, controlling more than half the market.
Commission chief Eduardo Perez Motta said he suspected Ferrosur and Ferromex were operating in collusion.
“If they are operating together, when they are separate companies, then they will be sanctioned,” Perez Motta told reporters.
“There will be fines and sanctions if the investigation concludes that there is collusion. If it is based on the new law than the fines could be around $62 million,” he said.