Hungary-based CER Cargo Group has completed its acquisition of Austrian rail freight operator Wiener Lokalbahnen Cargo (WLC), finalizing the transaction on December 23, 2025, the company announced. Following the takeover, WLC has been renamed CER Cargo Traction GmbH.
CER Cargo Group said the acquisition strengthens its international rail freight operations and supports greater cross-border interoperability, citing WLC’s presence in both intermodal and conventional freight transport. Despite broader macroeconomic challenges in Europe, the group said it remains confident about its outlook for 2026. Following the completion of the transaction, Lars Rosé and Anton Forstner were appointed as managing directors, Világgazdaság reports.
The planned acquisition was announced on November 5. At the time, WLC said the deal would secure the company’s long-term future. In May 2025, WLC and its owner, Wiener Stadtwerke, launched an open tender to find a strategic partner to further develop the business and generate synergies.
The Budapest-based CER Cargo Group, which operates subsidiaries across Southern, Eastern, and Central Europe, was selected as the winning bidder.
WLC is expected to strengthen the group’s activities in Austria and Germany.
WLC operates one of the most modern locomotive fleets in the rail freight sector, comprising 32 electric locomotives built by Siemens and Bombardier Transportation, as well as three diesel locomotives used for heavy shunting. The fleet also includes 245 container wagons.
Separately, CER Cargo Group last week signed an agreement in Belgrade to acquire a Serbian railway company.
The transaction is expected to close by the end of January 2026, although the company was not named.
Company representatives provided limited details at a freight transport conference in Belgrade in December, saying only that the Serbian expansion is part of a broader strategy to operate continuous rail services from Hamburg to Istanbul and Athens without locomotive changes at national borders. The expansion could also support the future development of rail services between Europe and China, particularly for cargo originating in the Far East.
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Via Világgazdaság, Featured image: Pixabay
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