By Justin Franz 

CALGARY — An overwhelming majority of Canadian Pacific shareholders — 99.91 percent, in fact — support the railroad’s plan to acquire Kansas City Southern. The vote, which was announced on Wednesday, comes just days before KCS shareholders are set to vote on whether or not to accept CP’s offer. 

Shareholders were specifically voting on a plan to issue up to 277,960,197 common shares to KCS shareholders, which is outlined in the merger agreement announced earlier this year. The transaction is worth about $31 billion but is still subject to approval from the U.S. Surface Transportation Board, a review that is expected to last months. 

“The shareholder approvals today are a key step on our path to this once-in-a-lifetime partnership to create the first U.S.-Mexico-Canada rail network,” said Keith Creel, CP President and Chief Executive Officer. “This is a transformative opportunity for CP, for KCS, and for the North American economy.”

  CP shareholders also voted on the name of the new company: Canadian Pacific Kansas City. It appears they were slightly less excited about that change, with .17 percent voting against it (versus .09 percent voting against the merger overall). 

If KCS shareholders approve the deal this week, then CP will officially acquire KCS and put the railroad into a blind trust pending federal approval.