New York (HedgeCo.Net) – CSX and dissident shareholders sounded off yesterday, as they shared their cases to an advisory firm and outlined their differing plans for the railroad operator’s future.

With a proxy fight in the future, TCI and 3G Capital, the two activist hedge funds, will have to urge shareholders to elect their proposed board of directors. Meanwhile, Michael Ward, Chairman and CEO of CSX, has different plans.

He once again pushed for shareholders to reject the hedge funds suggestions, citing their CSX’s strong stock performance in the first quarter and warning that the hedge funds were ultimately interested in a possible leveraged buyout.

TCI head Chris Hohn responded by saying, “If we were just looking to make a quick buck, we would have left CSX a long time ago.”

He went on to say that he is seeking nothing more than operational improvements as well as improvements on the board by replacing those with little or no railroad experience.

This includes placing himself on that board, along with 3G Managing Director Alexandre Behring.

The board of CSX currently has 12 seats. The hedge funds are seeking 5 of those seats and jointly nominated a minority board slate back in December.

The other three nominees are Gilbert Lamphere, who runs a private investment firm but also was a director at Canadian National Railway Co., Timothy O’Toole, Managing Director of the London Underground and Gary Wilson, a former chairman at Northwest Airlines Corp.

The board of directors will be decided by shareholders at the company’s annual meeting on June 25 in New Orleans.

Julie Scuderi
Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net
Email: julie@hedgeco.net

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