CSX UPS BID FOR CONRAIL : DEAL WOULD CREATE NO. 3 U.S. CARRIER.Byline: Aliah D. Wright Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. The fight for control of a once-comatose rail freight network in the Northeast shows no signs of letting up. CSX CSX Chessie Seaboard Multiplier (railroad transportation company) CSX Cayman Islands Stock Exchange CSX Changsha, China (Airport Code) CSX Cardiac-Specific Homeobox CSX Seaboard Coastline Railroad Corp., its stock continuing to sink after making an $8.4 billion bid for Conrail Inc., agreed Wednesday to pour more cash into its offer. Norfolk Southern Corp. said it is not dropping its richer, rival $9 billion bid, which it now will take directly to Conrail shareholders. Control over freight lines in the heavily populated eastern half of the country is at stake. A purchase of Conrail by either partner would create the No. 3 freight carrier in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. and continue the trend toward the creation of even bigger railroads. With the sweetened sweet·en v. sweet·ened, sweet·en·ing, sweet·ens v.tr. 1. To make sweet or sweeter by adding sugar, honey, saccharin, or another sweet substance. 2. To make more pleasant or agreeable. cash-and-stock bid in hand, Conrail reaffirmed its Oct. 15 agreement to merge with CSX, rejecting the all-cash offer from Norfolk Southern. The new CSX bid was worth about $8.4 billion, based on Tuesday's closing share price, about the same as the initial offer. But the value of the new deal slipped Wednesday as CSX stock resumed a retreat. ``The way it stood, Norfolk clearly had the better deal for shareholders and that's why CSX has decided to sweeten sweet·en v. sweet·ened, sweet·en·ing, sweet·ens v.tr. 1. To make sweet or sweeter by adding sugar, honey, saccharin, or another sweet substance. 2. To make more pleasant or agreeable. the deal somewhat,'' said Thom Brown, managing director of the money management firm Rutherford, Brown & Catherwood. ``But I'm not sure they've sweetened it enough to pull this off.'' Specifically, CSX raised the cash portion of its offer to $110 a share for 40 percent of Conrail stock, up about 19 percent from the $92.50 in its initial takeover agreement. It, however, left unchanged terms to buy the rest of Conrail's shares for CSX stock. CSX shares have now fallen almost 13 percent since the deal was announced. In trading after the latest round of announcements, Conrail rose 1-3/8 to close at 93-5/8 a share on the New York Stock Exchange New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) World's largest marketplace for securities. The exchange began as an informal meeting of 24 men in 1792 on what is now Wall Street in New York City. , where CSX fell -7/8 at 43-1/8 in a rising market and Norfolk Southern dropped 1-7/8 to 87-1/8 a share. 3 RAILS Conrail: 11,000-mile freight network in 12 Northeast and Midwest states, and the Canadian province Noun 1. Canadian province - Canada is divided into 12 provinces for administrative purposes province, state - the territory occupied by one of the constituent administrative districts of a nation; "his state is in the deep south" of Quebec. CSX: 18,000 miles of track in 20 states in the East, Midwest, South and Ontario, Canada. Norfolk Southern: 14,400-mile rail system in 20 Southeast and Midwest states. CAPTION(S): Box Box: (Color) 3 RAILS (See text) |
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