LATVIA: Škoda Group has bought 36% of Riga rolling stock workshop SIA L-Ekspresis, with an option on the remaining 64% by the end of 2028. The price was not disclosed.
Škoda announced the deal on 3 September and wants the company to become its maintenance and service centre for the whole Baltic region. L-Ekspresis has worked with the Czech manufacturer on production for several years and, according to its board chairman Rolands Gorodeckis, took part in building and delivering the new electric trains for Latvia and Estonia.
The stake gives Škoda a local base for a fleet it is still expanding. Its Baltic deliveries cover 32 electric multiple units for Latvia, 16 electric multiple units for Estonian operator Elron, 40 battery trolleybuses due in Tallinn this year and trolleybuses for Vilnius.
A takeover in two steps
The 36% holding is the first of two steps. The option runs to the end of 2028 and would make L-Ekspresis a full Škoda subsidiary. The announcement does not say what would trigger the option or what the second step would cost.
“Our ambition is not only to deliver new vehicles, but to be a long-term partner to our customers throughout the entire vehicle lifecycle,” said Petr Novotný, chief executive of Škoda Group.
The purchase follows a setback in Finland, where the group’s subsidiary Škoda Transtech lost the Helsinki tram contract in June. Škoda Transtech said on 25 August that the resulting cuts would affect 117 employees.
L-Ekspresis in figures
L-Ekspresis is small. Company register data compiled by Firmas.lv and cited by Latvian public broadcaster LSM put its 2025 revenue at EUR 9.664m, down 8.9% on the year, and its profit at EUR 500,759, down 46.3%. The company was registered in 2013 with share capital of EUR 178,500.
Until now it has been owned by SIA Dziela, with 90%, and SIA RG Investīcijas, with 10%. Dziela belongs to Druvis and Kristīne Mūrmanis, and RG Investīcijas to Rolands Gorodeckis. How the sellers split the 36% is not stated.
Neither party has named the operators the Riga centre is meant to serve, and no maintenance contract accompanies the announcement.