(Kansas City Southern issued the following news release on August 13.)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Southern (KCS) and Grupo TMM, S.A. have announced that Mexico’s Foreign Investment Commission (FIC) will rule on the proposed transaction that would place TFM, S.A., de C.V. (TFM) under common control of NAFTA Rail on or before August 28, 2003.
The approval of the FIC is necessary for a foreign company to become a majority owner of a Mexican-based company. The revised date is an extension of the previously announced decision date of August 12 and was granted upon written request from the FIC in order that the FIC commissioners would have adequate time to review the proposal.
Mexico’s Competition Commission has already approved the proposed transaction. The FIC is the last Mexican regulatory entity that must approve the transaction that would change the majority ownership to NAFTA Rail.
KCS is a transportation holding company that has railroad investments in the United States, Mexico, and Panama. Its primary holding is The Kansas City Southern Railway Company. Headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, KCS serves customers in the central and south central regions of the U.S. KCS’s rail holdings and investments are primary components of a NAFTA Railway system that links the commercial and industrial centers of the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Headquartered in Mexico City, Grupo TMM is the premier Mexican multimodal transportation company and logistics provider. Through its branch offices and network of subsidiary companies, Grupo TMM provides a dynamic combination of ocean and land transportation services within Mexico. Grupo TMM also has the controlling interest in TFM, which operates Mexico’s Northeast Rail Lines and carries over 40 percent of the country’s rail cargo.