Illinois Central Accepts Bid: Illinois Central Transportation...

Illinois Central Accepts Bid: Illinois Central Transportation Co., the owner of the Illinois Central Railroad, has accepted a $436-million takeover bid from the Prospect Group, creator of a railroad in Mississippi three years ago, the companies announced. The announcement came six weeks after the New York-based conglomerate launched the unsolicited $20-a-share cash takeover offer for Illinois Central, a major carrier of freight between Chicago and the Gulf of Mexico. The railroad originally gave a neutral reaction to the bid from Prospect Group, which owns MidSouth Corp., a regional railroad based in Jackson, Miss.