Trains Release about Wisconsin Central and Foreign Rails...

[Trevor Gibbs <xdford@start.com.au>]

Hi all

Thought the following from Trains Webpage would be of interest to
those following ATN and its fortunes...

Wisconsin Central to consider sale of regional, overseas railroads

   Facing a proxy fight from founder and former CEO
   Ed Burkhardt, Wisconsin Central's board of
   directors on November 3 announced it has hired
   an investment banking firm to advise it on ways to
   boost shareholder value--including sale of the
   company's assets, which include the Wisconsin
   Central and railroads in Great Britain, Australia,
   and New Zealand. Goldman, Sachs & Co. will be
   the company's financial adviser. 

   In doing so, WC appears to have stolen a page
   from Burkhardt's playbook. His Wisconsin Central
   Shareholders Committee to Maximize Value aims
   to take control of the company, overhaul
   Wisconsin Central's North American operations,
   halt overseas privatization ventures, spin off WC's
   minority interests in overseas railroads, and
   position WC's main property, the Wisconsin
   Central itself, for eventual sale to a large U.S.
   Class 1 system.

   "Over the past 15 months under new leadership,
   we have made substantial progress in
   strengthening the Company--increasing revenues,
   improving cash flows and repurchasing shares,"
   said Thomas F. Power, Jr., WC's president and
   CEO. "The Board is proceeding expeditiously on
   a full range of strategic alternatives to unlock the
   value of the Company's domestic and international
   assets for the timely benefit of our shareholders."

   An immediate sale of the company's North
   American operations to another railroad would be
   problematic because of the Surface Transportation
   Board's merger moratorium, which runs through
   June 2001.

   Speculation has centered on a sale of WC to
   Canadian National, which has run-through
   agreements over WC between Superior and
   Chicago. In an interesting twist, WC and CN share
   a major investor: Microsoft guru Bill Gates, who
   owns 7.7 percent of WC and 5.2 percent of CN.

   Burkhardt last year was forced out as chief
   executive of Wisconsin Central, the successful
   regional railroad he helped found in 1987. He
   remains a major investor in the company, with
   7.14 percent, and says he instigated the proxy fight
   mainly to try to regain company value for himself
   and other investors, citing the company's stock
   price, which continued to decline following his
   ouster. Its price has bounced up a bit since the
   proxy fight started. (posted 11/8/00)

   Augers interestingly for the future... A Wet Noodle logo in
Australia... I'd like to see that!

Cheers 


Trevor 




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