CN is celebrating a quarter-century of privatization.
The company, which was at the time Canada’s largest and oldest Crown corporation, was the largest IPO in Canadian history. On Nov. 17, 1995, investors spent C$2.25 billion snapping up shares.
The company is using the celebration to tout its transformation into “… a world-class transportation leader and trade enabler.”
“The privatization of CN was anticipated with widespread skepticism, but executed with startling success and today it is the source of enormous pride for our employees and all those involved over the years,” J.J. Ruest, CN’s president and chief executive officer said in a prepared release.
Today, CN has a market capitalization of approximately $100 billion. An investment of C$1,000 in CN stock in 1995 would be worth more than $63,000 today, the company noted.
Since privatization CN has expanded its network to reach three coasts, from the Atlantic to the Pacific and south to the Gulf of Mexico. It has acquired the Illinois Central Railroad, the Wisconsin Central Railroad, the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway, and BC Rail.
