Sale of tunnel frees up cash for CP

Article Excerpt

CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY LTD. $37 (Toronto symbol CP; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 167.7 million; Market cap: $6.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; SI Rating: Above Average) has agreed to sell most of its stake in a 50-50 partnership that owns the railway tunnel between Windsor, Ontario and Detroit. The sale will cut CP’s interest from 50% to 16.5%. With the sale, the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, CP’s partner in the tunnel, will increase its stake to 83.5%. CP will receive $110 million. This is equal to 17% of its 2008 earnings of $631.5 million, or $4.06 a share. It may also receive an extra $22 million, depending on how much freight moves through the tunnel in the future. The sale will help CP pay down its $4.7-billion long-term debt and cope with the recession. CP Rail is a buy. buy…