Raising C$2.25 billion, the IPO in 1995 was the biggest in Canadian history.
Paul Tellier, who was appointed CN President and CEO in 1992, led the railroad through downsizing and financial restructuring, paving the way to privatization. He earned Railway Age’s Railroader of the Year Award in 1997.
“Founded in 1919, CN was the largest and oldest Crown Corporation in Canada,” CN reported Nov. 17. “The privatization helped propel CN’s transformation into the transportation leader and trade-enabler it is today, powering the economy and North American supply chains from coast to coast to coast.” With a nearly 20,000-mile rail network and related transportation services, CN connects Canada’s Eastern and Western coasts with the U.S. Midwest and the U.S. Gulf Coast, transporting more than 300 million tons of natural resources, manufactured products, and finished goods throughout North America every year.
To mark the privatization anniversary, CN Board Chair Shauneen Bruder, President and CEO Tracy Robinson (Railway Age’s 2024 Railroader of the Year), and senior executives like EVP and Chief Commercial Officer Janet Drysdale rang the Opening Bell at the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Closing Bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Nov. 17.
“This day 30 years ago, marked a milestone in CN’s transformation into the industry leader we are today,” Tracy Robinson said. “Everyone who contributed to this success can look back with immense pride knowing that that same spirit is what continues to drive us today. The strength of CN lies in our ability to power the economy.”
“I remember the sense of excitement and determination that filled the company when we went public,” noted Cristina Circelli, Vice President Corporate Secretary and General Counsel at CN. “We knew it was a defining moment that would test us in new ways. Looking back now, it’s amazing to see how that moment of change became the catalyst for three decades of growth, innovation, and pride in what CN has become.”
“Times fly,” wrote Jean-Jacques “JJ” Ruest, who retired from CN leadership in 2022, in response to a CN social media post marking the anniversary. “It was quite the ride. Bold, transformative, energizing, striving on chaos at times. The ‘Pig that could not fly’ they said of CN when we joined at the privatization time. Pushing the line of the limits, because the limits where [sic] not physicals, they where [sic] self imposed. We did not know how far we could go, unless you pushed further. Be relentless.” Ruest was named Railway Age’s Railroader of the Year in 2019.
“I remember the excitement around the IPO day and everyone getting a chance to own a piece of the company,” CN reported Russ Perdue as saying; Perdue, who recently retired as Assistant Vice President, Domestic Intermodal, served in 1995 as System Officer, Freight Claims and Damage Prevention, in Mississauga, Ontario. “No one could have imagined what we would become. I had so many memorable moments, met so many wonderful people, and traveled the world for CN. I started out in the Car Department; I could have never dreamt the path or opportunities that CN afforded me. What hasn’t changed is our passion for winning, being the best, and doing the right thing for our customers.”
