Ermewa

What Ermewa does

Ermewa is a European rail freight wagon lessor and maintenance provider headquartered in Levallois-Perret, France, and operating as the wagon-rental arm of Streem Group. Founded in Switzerland in 1956, the company has assembled a fleet of more than 50,000 freight railcars spanning roughly 120 wagon types, and serves industrial shippers, railway operators, and logistics providers through 18 offices in 14 European countries. Its commercial model is asset-light for customers: Ermewa purchases, owns, and maintains the wagons, then rents them on recurring contracts, while bundling ECM-certified maintenance, refurbishment, and fleet modernisation services.

Technically, the fleet is differentiated by the proprietary Safety++ programme (anti-override systems, reinforced shields, corrosion protection, GPS beacons) and a portfolio of R&D projects including a lighter wagon, Digital Automatic Coupling (DAC), and an LPG Safety++ gas wagon developed with Greenbrier, Knorr-Bremse, and ADS. Ermewa performs over 6,100 maintenance operations per year and refurbishes more than 700 wagons annually, extending wagon life by at least ten years. The customer base spans steel, aggregates and worksites, chemistry, intermodal, oil, gas, automotive, grain, palletised goods, energy, wood, and sugar verticals, with disclosed clients including Mercitalia Logistics, DB Fahrwegdienste, Lineas, and Rail Cargo Logistics.

Ermewa generates revenue through recurring railcar lease contracts and professional maintenance services. Since 2021 the company has been wholly owned by DWS and CDPQ following their acquisition from SNCF, and the parent was rebranded from Ermewa Group to Streem in 2023. Reported FY2025 revenue was €329.4M.

Name

Ermewa

Legal name

Ermewa SA

Website

https://ermewa.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1956

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Ermewa is a European rail freight wagon lessor and ECM-certified maintenance provider, renting a 50,000+ wagon fleet to industrial shippers, railway operators, and logistics providers across 18 offices in 14 countries under the Streem Group.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Rail Freight Wagon Leasing

NAICS

Commercial Air, Rail, and Water Transportation Equipment Rental and Leasing (532411)

SIC

Railroad Equipment (3743)

akta.pro primary industry

Freight Wagon (Railcar) Maintenance & Repair (TLAKAIAB)

Keywords

• Rail wagon leasing
• Freight wagon rental
• Railcar maintenance services
• Industrial rail logistics
• Rail fleet management

Headquarters

HQ city

Levallois-perret

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Railcar Leasing: Core business of renting freight railcars to industrial companies, railway operators, and logistics providers across Europe. Rental solutions support customer competitiveness with asset-light business models.
2. Maintenance Services: ECM-certified maintenance services for rail fleet, including predictive maintenance, mobile maintenance, and network of certified workshops. Over 6,100 maintenance operations performed annually.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Ermewa rents freight railcars (wagons) to industrial companies, railway operators, and logistics providers across Europe, offering 120+ wagon types across sectors including steel, chemistry, gas, oil, grain, aggregates, automotive, and intermodal. The leasing offering is complemented by ECM-certified maintenance services, including predictive maintenance, mobile maintenance, and a network of certified workshops, plus wagon refurbishment that extends asset life by 10+ years.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Railcar Leasing (Wagon Rental) Long-term and short-term rental of 120+ types of freight railcars (50,000+ fleet) to industrial companies, railway operators, and logistics providers across Europe. Asset-light model allows customers to avoid capital expenditure on railcar ownership while supporting competitiveness.
• ECM-Certified Maintenance Services Rail fleet maintenance services including predictive maintenance, mobile maintenance, and a network of certified workshops. Over 6,100 maintenance operations are performed annually under ECM certification.
• Chlorine Wagon Safety+ Specialized chlorine transport railcar co-developed with Greenbrier, equipped with Knorr-Bremse braking systems and ADS-supplied GPS telemetry, designed for safe transport of hazardous chemicals.
• Intermodal Wagons (102 new units for Mercitalia Logistics)
• Grain Wagons (200 new 95m3 units for Rail Cargo Logistics)
• Safety++ Wagon Program

Quantifiable outcome

• 95-99% of wagon components are recyclable
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments12 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• DB Fahrwegdienste GmbHcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 July 2024Leasing state-of-the-art wagons for Riedbahn modernisation project, supporting German railway infrastructure.
• Mercitalia Logistics (Gruppo FS Italiane)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2023Long-term lease agreement for 102 new intermodal wagons, strengthening cooperation between Ermewa and Mercitalia Logistics.
• InvehocoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Innovation partnership M4.0 with Inveho and Railenium for Maintenance 4.0 and digitalization projects.
• RaileniumminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Innovation partnership for R&D projects in rail freight, part of M4.0 maintenance innovation project.
• Rail Cargo LogisticscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Delivery of 200 brand new 95m3 grain wagons, supporting agricultural logistics operations.
• LineascoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Sale-and-leaseback agreement for 4,000 wagons with Lineas, strengthening long-term relationship.
• Roche BoboisminorOthers · 1 January 2021Partnership for circular economy - furniture made from recycled wagon floorboards.
• T3MminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Joint collaboration for approval of new brake shoes, testing and certification partnership.
• GreenbriercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 May 2019Partnership for development of chlorine wagon Safety+ designed with Greenbrier. Technical collaboration on wagon design and safety features.
• Express GroupminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Acquisition of 127 coil wagons from Express Group fleet.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• VTG AG: VTG is Europe's largest private rail freight wagon lessor, headquartered in Hamburg, with a comparable fleet of railcars for chemicals, oil, intermodal and more. Ermewa and VTG compete head-to-head for the same enterprise customers across continental Europe.
• GATX Corporation: GATX is one of the world's largest railcar leasing companies, with a meaningful European franchise offering tank, freight, and specialty railcars. It competes directly with Ermewa for cross-border European lessor customers.
• Akiem: Akiem is a French rolling-stock lessor (locomotives and wagons) operating across Europe with private-equity backing. It directly overlaps Ermewa's wagon-railcar leasing business in continental Europe, with similar customer segments.
• Wascosa: Wascosa is a Swiss-headquartered rail freight wagon lessor serving European customers across chemicals, gas, and intermodal segments. It is a close comparable in scale, geography, and product mix to Ermewa.
• Beacon Rail Leasing: Beacon Rail is a European rolling stock lessor providing freight wagons and locomotives to operators and industrial shippers. It competes with Ermewa in the same wagon categories and European geographies.
• Mitsui Rail Capital Europe (MRCE): MRCE is a locomotive and rolling-stock lessor jointly owned by Mitsui and Japanese partners, with a European-wide customer base. While heavier in locomotives, it competes for the same enterprise customer relationships and rail-leasing wallets.
• Touax Rail: Touax is a French equipment lessor with a dedicated rail freight wagon leasing business. It directly competes with Ermewa for European railcar leasing customers, particularly in France and Benelux.

Broad incumbents

• Greenbrier Companies: Greenbrier is a large North-American rail equipment manufacturer and lessor that also designs specialty wagons in Europe (including co-development with Ermewa on Safety+). It is a partial competitor in leasing plus a key supplier partner.
• Trinity Industries Inc. Trinity Industries is a major US railcar manufacturer and lessor (TrinityRail Leasing). It is a broad incumbent in the global railcar leasing industry with a meaningful North America franchise and comparable product set to Ermewa's European fleet.

Others

• Raffles Lease: Raffles Lease is a sister brand under Streem Group (Ermewa's parent) focused on railcar leasing adjacent to Ermewa. It is a corporate sibling rather than a direct competitor, but represents the broader Streem leasing portfolio.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCGoYtKZoj6mrW-1Xu6HiCjw
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ermewa-sas

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Ermewa