UPDATE 1-Kansas City Southern wins control of Mexico’s TFM
Rail operator Kansas City Southern Industries Inc. (KSU.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Tuesday it has reached a deal with the government of Mexico to resolve disputes over a tax refund in exchange for control of a Mexican rail network, sending its shares soaring more than 13 percent in afternoon trading.
Kansas City Southern said it and its subsidiaries now own 100 percent of Grupo Transportacion Ferroviaria Mexicana, S.A. (GTFM) and TFM, S.A. (TFM). It said the agreement did not involve cash payments by any parties.
“The effective economic impact is they’re exchanging their tax claim for the remaining government stake in that railroad,” said Standard & Poor’s equity analyst Andrew West.
West said the value-added tax rebate was estimated at between $500 million and $1 billion. Forgoing the rebate in exchange for ownership of the railroad was a “best-case” scenario for many investors, he added.
“I think this was good news even if it was not totally unexpected,” West said. “It took away some of the remaining uncertainty related to the company’s strategy.”
That strategy involves integrating freight service on both sides of U.S.-Mexico border. KCS said on Tuesday it will now go ahead with capital investments in TFM, potentially upgrading tracks and signals and laying new track to boost capacity.
KCS shares posted their biggest one-day jump in two years, up $2.67, or 13.3 percent, at $22.78.
Source: today.reuters.com
Mexico's Grupo TMM Sells 18 Mln Kansas City Shares
Grupo TMM SA, Mexico's largest transportation company, said it sold 18 million shares of Kansas City Southern common stock at $22.25 a share, about 10 percent lower than the U.S. railway's closing price yesterday.
Mexico City-based Grupo TMM said in a statement on Business Wire today that it sold the stock to Morgan Stanley and will apply the proceeds toward debt. Kansas City Southern shares fell 32 cents to $24.68 yesterday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.
Kansas City Southern, based in Kansas City, Missouri, said separately it would offer 9
Kansas City Southern tries to halt Mexico rail deal
U.S. rail operator Kansas City Southern (KSU.N: Quote, Profile, Research) asked Mexico's anti-trust body on Friday to stop Grupo Mexico (GMEXICOB.MX: Quote, Profile, Research) merging its Ferromex rail operations with those of recently purchased Ferrosur.
In a statement, Kansas City Southern's Mexican unit said the merger of Ferromex and Ferrosur, which was bought from Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim's Grupo Carso last month, would limit competition.
More: today.reuters.com
U.S., Mexico negotiating to set up customs port in Kansas City
KANSAS CITY, Mo. Shipping U-S vehicles and electronics to Mexico may become much cheaper and faster next year.
That's when the first Mexican customs facility in the U-S is expected to open in the Midwest.It's nearly one-thousand miles to the border from Kansas City.But the area will soon start building an inland port to whisk thousands of trucks through export inspections and back onto the North American Free Trade Agreement corridor.The three (M) million dollar facility is expected to be approved by the U-S and Mexican governments by year's end.
Chris Gutierrez
Bus drives into ravine in southern Mexico
OAXACA, Mexico A bus that went out of control in southern Mexico ended up in a ravine -- killing at least 12 people.
Police say two children were among the victims.It wasn't immediately clear if the driver fled or was among the nearly 20 people injured in yesterday's crash near San Pablo Guelatao, about 30 miles from Oaxaca City.Witnesses say the driver was speeding and lost control on a narrow stretch of road. Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Soure: kltv.com
Blunt heading to Mexico on trade trip
Gov. Matt Blunt is heading to Mexico on Sunday for his first international trade trip, which includes a meeting with Mexican President Vicente Fox.
Blunt said his goal is to increase sales of Missouri products to Mexico, as well as to discuss the creation of a Mexican customs facility in Kansas City that will allow goods to be shipped straight into the heart of the United States without first having to clear customs at the borders.
Kansas City's SmartPort project will allow goods from Asia, for example, to travel through the Mexican port city of Lazaro
Wal-Mart and Li ka-Shing seen key to Mexico port expansion
Top retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Hong Kong magnate Li ka-Shing are key players in a $300 million expansion of Mexico's Pacific port of Lazaro Cardenas aimed at ensuring goods reach U.S. shelves, according to the U.S. railroad that serves the port.
"Wal-Mart and other retailers are looking for backup routes so that even if some ports face stoppages they have reliable backups," Michael Haverty, chief executive of Kansas City Southern , told Reuters at KCS headquarters here in a recent interview.
As part of current plans, he added, Wal-Mart may build a
His rescue from kidnappers wins praise for Mexico's federal police
Just freed in a daring police raid after two months in the hands of kidnappers, Ruben Omar Romano said Thursday he can't wait to get back to work as the coach of one of Mexico's most popular soccer teams.
"I feel a bit weak, and I still can't believe I'm out of captivity," said a smiling Romano, the Argentine coach of Cruz Azul, at a news conference the morning after his rescue.
"But I'm happy to see my family, and I've got the strength to go on fighting and be back with the
UPDATE 2-Mexico's Pemex resumes full production after Emily
Mexico resumed its full production of crude oil on Friday by bringing its wells in the Gulf of Mexico back on tap after they were closed by a powerful hurricane, state oil monopoly Pemex said.
Pemex slashed output and halted exports as Hurricane Emily pounded the Yucatan Peninsula and then moved into the Gulf of Mexico earlier this week.
The storm shut down 2.95 million barrels of day of crude oil as well as 1.87 million bpd of exports, the bulk of them to the United States.
Pemex typically produces about 3.4 million bpd of crude,
Lázaro Bruzón Wins International Chess Event in Mexico
Lázaro Bruzón won the annual Carlos Torre Repetto International Chess Tournament that concludes Thursday in the Mexican city of Mérida.
Bruzón, the Cuban national champion and the best-ranked Latin American player with an ELO rating of 2677 units that places him 26th in the world list of the International Chess Federation (FIDE), beat Polish GM Michal Krasenkow (2655).
Playing by the Wimbledom system, Bruzón and Krasenkow tied in the two classical games and in the two rapid games of 10 minutes. Bruzon’s success came in the first of the five-minute tie-break games, in 64
Mexico's Roberto Madrazo Wins PRI Presidential Primary Election
Mexico's Roberto Madrazo, the former governor of the state of Tabasco, won the primary election for the presidential nomination of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, the country's largest political party.
Madrazo had 91 percent of the votes with the ballots from 74 percent of polling stations counted, according to the party's Web site. Everardo Moreno, Madrazo's only rival after former state of Mexico Governor Arturo Montiel dropped out of the contest, had 9 percent of the vote.
Mariano Palacios, president of the party, declared Madrazo the winner as of 11:30 p.m. New York time
