CSX Shares Jump On Reported Merger Talks With Canadian Pacific Railway

CSX Corporation CSX gained more than 12 percent in early trading Monday on reported merger talks with Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (USA) CP

CSX, the Jacksonville, Florida-based railway company, recently rejected an initial offer from Canadian Pacific, according to unnamed sources cited by The Wall Street Journal.

Reports elsewhere said the two companies remain in merger talks, but that it's unclear if a deal will emerge.

CSX freight lines are concentrated between the Midwest and east coast oil refineries, while Calgary-based Canadian Pacific provides access to oil fields in Alberta and North Dakota.

Activist investor Bill Ackman's Pershing Square LLC , which opened for trading on Euronext in Amsterdam, holds an 8 percent stake in Canadian Pacific where Ackman has been a board member since winning a 2012 proxy battle.

Both railroad companies are riding high on the North American energy boom by offering an alternative to pipelines for the transport of crude oil. Several high-profile accidents, however, are causing safety regulators to re-think rules on the practice.

CSX, up 16 percent year-to-date, recently changed hands at $32.94, up 10 percent.

Canadian Pacific traded recently at $188.69, down less than 1 percent; the stock is up about 24 percent year to date.