About us

Max Sandmeier began his career as a junior accountant at a beverage store in Leysin, Switzerland. In 1944, at just 17 years old and fresh out of business school, he took his first job there. However, he quickly grew bored, particularly during the slow winter months when sales were sluggish. Max was a man of action, always on the move. It wasn’t until after two years of military service, during which he was promoted to the rank of officer, that his career truly started to take off.

In 1949, when many Italians came to Switzerland to find work, the 22-year-old Max Sandmeier answered the call of his entrepreneurial uncle and went to Genoa. At that time, Europe had no oil refineries. Switzerland had to source its oil products from Italian coastal depots, using small, two-axle railway wagons that were highly prone to breaking down.

Uncle Giovanni saw a business opportunity: He offered importers a repair service with Swiss quality. Max Sandmeier was given the role of supervisor over the private railway workshops. As a businessman, his organisational skills were highly valued, and he quickly learned the repair trade.

The self-made man Pietro Scotti greatly valued Sandmeier’s work and, in 1951, offered him a partnership in his repair workshop, OFIM. OFIM repaired tank wagons and other freight wagons for the Italian State Railways. Soon after Max Sandmeier joined, the business grew quickly: From eight employees in 1951, the workforce grew to forty within just a year. When OFIM began building two-axle tank wagons in the early 1960s in addition to providing routine maintenance, an idea was soon born.

In 1964, Max Sandmeier brought his brother-in-law Jakob Waelty on board to establish the Swiss company Wascosa together with Pietro Scotti. Wascosa mainly focussed on the rental of freight wagons. Initially operating in Italy, the company soon expanded to Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, and beyond. Step by step, Wascosa had conquered the railways in Europe.

In 1993 Philipp Müller took over the day to day control of the company from his father-in-law Max Sandmeier from one day to the next. He quickly recognised the significant market potential. Together with his team, he was the driving force for innovation in technology, IT, and marketing at the company's then location in Zug, Switzerland.

Wascosa was the first wagon leasing company to launch its own website. The owners took the very practical initiative of attaching their email address to the tank cars, as URLs or email addresses on address plates were still prohibited at that time.

Wascosa won the Zug Innovation Award with the innovative flex freight system®. This wagon system enhances the long-term productivity and economic efficiency of the rolling stock used and optimises the deployment of freight wagons. The innovation award is granted to Zug-based companies that that make innovative models work in the economy and thereby create jobs.

As the company continued to grow, space in Zug became increasingly tight. Consequently, Wascosa decided to relocate its head office from Zug to Lucerne where it moved into larger offices.

In 2014, Wascosa celebrated its 50th anniversary. The celebration was marked by various events, including the Future Day and a special anniversary trip to the Trans-Europe Express (TEE) through Switzerland.

On 1 October 2018, Wascosa AG, the Swiss railway wagon leasing company, and listed company Aves One AG, an investor in logistics assets, completed the acquisition of 4,400 freight wagons from NACCO, a subsidiary of CIT Group. In addition to taking over the operations and wagon leases, Wascosa also took charge of the operations of Nacco GmbH in Hamburg. This positioned Wascosa at a major logistics hub in one of the world's largest ports.

Following its successful growth in the United Kingdom, Wascosa established a new office in Hull, England in 2020.

In response to its successful growth in Italy and Spain, Wascosa established two new offices near Milan and Madrid in 2022.

In the summer of 2022, Wascosa is sold. SwissLife Asset Managers and Vauban Infrastructure Partners took over the freight-wagon leasing company. The founding family thus secured the continued existence of the company for the future.

Aves One was previously an owner of long-life assets with a special focus on European rail freight transport. Aves One and Wascosa have enjoyed a successful partnership as investors and asset managers since 2018. The two infrastructure investors, Swiss Life Asset Managers and Vauban Infrastructure Partners, acquired a majority stake in Aves One AG in 2021 and before acquiring the whole of Wascosa in 2022. Both companies were merged into one group under Wascosa Group Holding in 2024.

The new office premises in the venerable Helmut Schmidt building offer an inspiring environment as well as space for innovation, personal development and collaborative growth. The opening of the new office marks an important step in the further development of the company and underlines the company’s clear commitment to a modern, responsible and employee-orientated working environment for a strong brand.