Germany: The Polish manufacturer has officially closed the transaction and acquired 100% of the German company’s shares.
The investment agreement, signed by the parties late last year, has come into force following the necessary regulatory procedures. The value of the deal is not disclosed. Meanwhile, Pesa engaged in the transaction in light of a €1.6 bln financing package, attracted to expand production capacity, secure new contracts, and strengthen R&D.
On 1 July, Pesa’s management board conducted a meeting with HeiterBlick’s employees at the plant in Leipzig. At the meeting, the Polish company shared a blueprint for the site development, including plans to increase the plant’s production capacity. The German facility will also deal with the rolling stock final assembly and will hold the commercial department.
To optimise costs, R&D and welding will be relocated to Pesa’s Polish plant in Bydgoszcz, which has already set about manufacturing the HeiterBlick tram bodies for Leipzig.
The strategic goals of the merger continue to be Pesa’s accelerating entry to the German tram market, ensuring stable growth and further production activities in Leipzig. Pesa is intended to offer customers both HeiterBlick’s variable-floor tram designs as well as its own advanced low-floor platforms, Twist 3.0 and Swing 3.0.
It is worth noting that HeiterBlick, founded in 2004 and having its origins in tram manufacturing and repair expertise dating back to the 1920s, filed for bankruptcy in April 2025. The reasons were the supply chain disruptions and rising of component costs due to the Covid-19 pandemic and an unstable geopolitical situation. At the start of the insolvency procedures, HeiterBlick’s order book included 40 Saxon trams for Leipzig, Görlitz, and Zwickau; 34 Vamos trams for Dortmund; and 18 GT-F trams for Würzburg.
Later, Görlitz and Zwickau cancelled their procurements and launched a new joint tender, while Pesa announced its readiness to fulfil all of HeiterBlick’s contractual obligations. “We have successfully concluded negotiations aimed not only at maintaining existing orders but also at convincing clients to exercise options for additional vehicles and continue work on current projects. This concerns agreements with operators in Leipzig, Dortmund, and Würzburg,” pointed out Lukasz Daszkiewicz, Pesa’s sales director.
