Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. (CP: Quote,CP.TO: Quote) Friday said it appointed Hunter Harrison as its president, chief executive and a member of the board of directors.
Harrison has nearly 50 years of railroad experience. He was the former Chief of Canadian Pacific's rival Canadian National Railway Co. (CNI, CNR.TO). Prior to that he served as president and CEO of Illinois Central Railroad.
Paul Haggis, CP's chairman of the board of directors said, "We look forward to benefiting from his strong track record of service reliability, efficient asset utilization, and strategic capital expenditure."
In Mid May, Canadian Pacific's then President and Chief Executive Officer Fred Green had resigned with immediate effect, just hours before its annual shareholder meeting. Green, who began his career at Canadian Pacific in 1978, also resigned as a director and along with five other directors revealed their decision not to stand for re-election.
That move came after a fierce four-month long proxy battle waged by U.S. activist investor Bill Ackman to unseat Canadian Pacific's board of directors as he has been pushing for massive changes to the board in order to turnaround the company's fortunes.
Ackman's New York-based hedge fund Perishing Square Capital Management LP owns 14.2 percent of Calgary, Canada-based Canadian Pacific and is its biggest shareholder.
Green began his career at Canadian Pacific in 1978 and has held various positions throughout the railway in operations, sales and marketing, and yield. Green has been serving as the president and CEO of the company since May 2006.
On June 1, another board member David Raisbeck had stepped down from the Canadian Pacific Board and this Wednesday, the company announced the resignation of Rick George from its Board.
CP closed Thursday's regular trading at $71.09 on the NYSE, while CP.TO ended at C$73.52 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
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by RTT Staff Writer
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