(Reuters) -Billionaire Chris Hohn's TCI Fund Management nominated four independent directors to Canadian National's board, a day after Kansas City Southern (NYSE:KSU) divulged plans to accept a buyout offer from Canadian Pacific (NYSE:CP) Railway Ltd.
Canadian Pacific has offered $27.2 billion in a cash-and-stock deal, compared with Canadian National's $29.6 billion offer.
"We did not seek a proxy fight, but without urgent action CN's operational and financial performance will continue to lag its peers under a board that lacks the right railroad experience and operational expertise," TCI's Hohn said in a statement on Monday.
TCI also reiterated its call to replace Canadian National Chief Executive Officer Jean-Jacques Ruest with former Union Pacific executive Jim Vena.
Canadian National said once it receives a requisition from TCI, which owns over 5% in the railroad operator, for a meeting of its shareholders, it will review it and comment further in due course.
TCI's nominees include: Gilbert Lamphere, chairman of freight rail company MidRail Corp; Allison Landry, an independent director with XPO Logistics (NYSE:XPO); Rob Knight, former chief financial officer of railroad operator Union Pacific Corp (NYSE:UNP); and Paul Miller, a former Canadian National executive.
The investment firm said last week it expected to nominate at least five new directors to Canadian National's board, which has 11 directors.