Polish train manufacturer acquires insolvent German tram builder
The Polish train manufacturer Pesa is acquiring 100% of the shares in the insolvent German tram manufacturer HeiterBlick, which is based in Leipzig. The deal gives Pesa direct access to Germany’s large urban rail market. It comes at a time when German cities face tight delivery schedules for trams and light rail vehicles, while manufacturers across Europe are operating at full capacity.
According to Pesa, the acquisition is intended to stabilise HeiterBlick’s order book and scale up production in Leipzig, with a target output of around 25 vehicles per year and the retention of approximately 250 jobs.
An acquisition driven by capacity, not branding
HeiterBlick entered insolvency proceedings in April 2025. Pesa says the transaction was signed in December 2025 and is expected to complete in Q1 2026. The company has not disclosed the value of the deal.
For Pesa, the acquisition is a faster route into the German market than building new capacity from scratch. Taking over an existing plant, workforce and customer base can shorten the time to start delivering — in a sector where buyers increasingly judge bids on whether suppliers can actually deliver on time, given limited factory capacity.
What changes in Leipzig
If the deal closes on schedule, Pesa’s immediate task will be to keep deliveries on track during restructuring — lock in suppliers, restart steady production, and minimise disruption as ownership changes.
Pesa says it wants to scale Leipzig as a production hub. To do that, it will need to increase output steadily — standardise builds and keep the line running at a consistent rate that city operators can plan around.
Why it matters: Germany’s city operators are ordering into a tight European tram market. Keeping the plant and workforce running after insolvency can add capacity faster than building a new factory. But it only helps if Pesa stabilises deliveries during the transition and then ramps up output.