MONTREAL, Feb. 13, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CN (TSX:CNR) (NYSE:CNI) today filed a final shelf prospectus with Canadian securities regulators and a registration statement with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), pursuant to which CN may issue up to C$6 billion of debt securities in Canadian and U.S. markets over the next 25 months.

CN expects to use net proceeds from the sale of debt securities under the shelf prospectus for general corporate purposes, including the redemption and refinancing of outstanding debt, share repurchases, acquisitions, and other business opportunities.

A registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with the SEC but has not yet become effective. These securities may not be sold nor may offers to buy be accepted prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the securities, nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such jurisdiction.

A copy of the final shelf prospectus will be available on the Canadian Securities Administrators' web site, www.sedar.com, or the SEC's website, www.sec.gov. It may also be obtained from the Corporate Secretary, Canadian National Railway Company, 935 de La Gauchetière Street West, Montreal, Que., H3B 2M9 (Telephone: 514-399-7091).

CN is a true backbone of the economy whose team of approximately 24,000 railroaders transports more than C$250 billion worth of goods annually for a wide range of business sectors, ranging from resource products to manufactured products to consumer goods, across a rail network of approximately 20,000 route-miles spanning Canada and mid-America. CN – Canadian National Railway Company, along with its operating railway subsidiaries – serves the cities and ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, B.C., Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala., and the metropolitan areas of Toronto, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Calgary, Chicago, Memphis, Detroit, Duluth, Minn./Superior, Wis., and Jackson, Miss., with connections to all points in North America. For more information about CN, visit the Company's website at www.cn.ca.