Cary Group: building a sustainable leader in the car care market

Many Swedes are familiar with the brand Ryds Bilglas (today representing Cary Group’s Swedish operations), a market leading vehicle glass repair and replacement provider with a strong history and local presence in Sweden. In 2018, Nordic Capital saw significant unrealised potential and a clear opportunity to take Ryds Bilglas to the next level by accelerating organic and acquisitive growth, improving profitability through operational initiatives, launching a sustainability agenda as well as bringing the company’s highly popular concept outside Sweden.

Partnership to accelerate growth
Nordic Capital invested in Cary Group in partnership with the founding Ryds family, who remained active on the board of directors and as minority shareholder alongside Nordic Capital during the investment. The acquisition marked the start of a journey which would transform the company from a Swedish player into a pan-European market leader under the new name Cary Group.

Significant investments were made to strengthen the operational performance, including building a corporate team with strong competences in operations, sustainability, HR, marketing and purchasing. Operational excellence was implemented by sharing best practices across the company and leveraging Nordic Capital’s operations team, along with increased digitalisation on all levels of the business.

From Sweden to Europe
Nordic Capital also supported the management team in accelerating its M&A agenda, which enabled further expansion in Sweden and Norway as well as new country expansion into five new markets: the UK, Denmark, Spain, Portugal and Germany.

During Nordic Capital's three first years of ownership, Cary Group grew significantly. The number of workshops increased by 9x from c. 100 in Sweden to ~930 workshops in the Nordics, UK and Spain. The number of employees increased by 4x from c. 350 to about 1,550 and revenues by 3x from c. SEK 700 mn in 2017 to SEK 2,140 mn in 2021 (in spite of mobility restrictions because of Covid-19).

The growth was achieved with sustainability at the core of the company’s business strategy. The very essence of Cary Group's value proposition is to promote repair over replacement and to provide services that sustain the life, value and safety of cars.

Establishing a clear sustainability agenda
During the ownership of Nordic Capital, Cary Group established its first clear sustainability roadmap and published its first sustainability report. This resulted in new and more ambitious commitments, objectives and ESG-related KPIs – clearly stating how to promote environmental and social characteristics as part of the business strategy.

The strong ESG emphasis constituted an instrumental part of Cary Group's public offering at the time of the listing on Nasdaq Stockholm in 2021. The offering attracted strong interest and was oversubscribed multiple times.

Note: In October 2022, Cary Group was taken private by CVC and Nordic Capital to further support the company’s accelerated European growth journey. For more information, see   https://www.nordiccapital.com/news-views/press-releases/cvc-funds-and-nordic-capital-completes-the-acquisition-of-cary-group-to-support-its-accelerated-european-growth-journey/

CEO Anders Jensen reflects on the journey together with Nordic Capital

What difference has Nordic Capital made as an owner of Cary Group?
"Nordic Capital has made a significant difference every day and enabled us to reach further than we could've done without their support. They've offered the right balance of international reach, local expertise and capital strength – which we needed to accelerate our growth journey. It has been a strong partnership that is much appreciated by the whole management team at Cary Group."

Cary Group transformed from a Swedish company to a European leader in a short period. How was that possible?
"The expansion was enabled by a focused growth strategy, underpinned by Nordic Capital's vast experience of growth, both organically and through acquisitions. This allowed us to navigate with precision and seize not just any opportunity, but the right ones. As a result, we entered strategically important European markets like Spain and the UK and established Cary Group as a strong leader in our industry. Above all, we did it all in a sustainable way."

With regards to sustainability, what's your view on the new ESG strategy?
"Our core business is based on the idea of sustainability, providing services that encourage repair and making cars last longer. Together with Nordic Capital, we wanted to strengthen and develop our sustainability agenda, which resulted in a strategy that defines a broad range of new environmental and social impact goals. Reducing our climate impact is of course a key priority – but it remained key to simultaneously create added value for the Group’s co-workers. This includes securing their health and safety, promoting diversity and ensure a sustainable supply chain. We are all inspired and determined to continue developing."