Exactly 25 years ago today, the Government of Canada put Canadian National (CN) shares up for sale to investors; at C$2.25 billion, it was the biggest IPO in Canadian history. At the time, CN was the largest and oldest Crown Corporation in Canada. Today CN is a world-class transportation leader and trade-enabler. On November 17th 1995, CN’s shares were listed on the TSX and NYSE. The IPO raised C$2.25 billion for the Government of Canada. Today, CN has a market capitalization of approximately C$100 billion. An investment of C$1,000 in CN stock in 1995 would be worth more than C$63,000 today. In the past quarter century, 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. Each of those railways, as well as the Grand Trunk Western, are represented by one of the locomotives specially painted by CN for the 25th anniversary of its IPO and they will be rolling on CN’s network to move its customers’ goods. CN has also become a leader in technology and innovation. Privatization allowed it to pioneer the Precision Scheduled Railroading model, which has vastly improved railroad efficiency since it was implemented at CN in 1998. Artificial intelligence and advanced data analysis are now propelling CN into the next evolution; the digitalization of scheduled railroading.
-via Press Release