Cary Group: building a pan-European leader in sustainable car care

A strong platform for European growth

Cary Group traces its origins to Sundsvall in 1947, operating for decades as Ryds Bilglas and building a leading position in the Swedish vehicle glass repair and replacement market. When Nordic Capital invested in 2018, the company had around 100 workshops and approximately 350 employees, all in Sweden.

The investment thesis was straightforward. Vehicle glass repair and replacement is a resilient, non-cyclical market growing at around five percent per year, driven by insurance coverage, increasing windshield complexity and rising mileage. The market was highly fragmented across Europe and Cary had a proven operational model and a sustainability proposition that was differentiated.

Over the following three years, Nordic Capital supported Cary's management team in expanding into Norway, Denmark, the UK, Spain, Portugal and Germany through a combination of organic growth and targeted add-ons. The company grew fourfold in revenues, more than fivefold in workshops and fourfold in headcount. By the time of the IPO on Nasdaq Stockholm in September 2021, Cary operated over 520 workshops across the Nordics, UK and Spain and employed approximately 1,400 people.

A strategic decision to accelerate privately

The listing in 2021 was a milestone, but it also clarified something about the road ahead. Cary's European growth ambitions were large and acquisition-driven. In a period of rising interest rates and shifting market sentiment in 2022, Nordic Capital and new partner CVC concluded that the company's strategy would be better executed outside the listed environment, where access to capital was more flexible and the focus could remain firmly on long-term growth rather than short-term reporting cycles.

In October 2022, Nordic Capital Fund XI and CVC completed the acquisition and delisting of Cary Group, valuing the company at approximately SEK 9 billion. For Nordic Capital, the decision reflected a clear strategic judgement. Cary's ambitions in the fragmented European market were better served with the flexibility and long-term orientation that private ownership provides.

For Nordic Capital, the reinvestment reflected genuine conviction in the business. Having been the principal shareholder since 2018, the firm had deep familiarity with the company, its management team and its market. That continuity has been an asset.

Continued expansion across Europe

Since the take-private, Cary Group has continued to see significant growth and expanded into Luxembourg, Belgium and France through a consistent cadence of add-ons across target markets. The approach is selective, focusing on high-quality local operators with strong customer relationships, integrated into Cary's operational model and brand architecture. The company now operates more than 1,650 workshops across ten countries and employs approximately 4,000 people.

Alongside geographic expansion, meaningful work has gone into operational performance. Procurement has been optimised as group scale has increased, and a digital platform has been developed to improve the customer experience and workshop efficiency.

Sustainability at the core

Cary Group's sustainability credentials are grounded in what the business actually does. Repairing a windshield rather than replacing it reduces the direct climate impact by approximately 98 percent and supports the company’s ambition to become the industry leader in sustainable vehicle glass repair. In 2024, the company repaired and replaced approximately 1.1 million windscreens, saving an estimated 16,000 tonnes of CO2 in direct emissions. All replaced glass is recycled into new materials, supporting a circular offering focused on reducing material consumption and waste.

The company became the first glass service provider in the Nordics to offer fully climate-compensated services in 2021, and its greenhouse gas reduction targets have been verified by the Science Based Targets initiative, supporting its long-term ambition of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. Around 70 percent of the courtesy fleet is electric or low-emission across the group. Cary Group also focuses on responsible sourcing and ethical operations throughout the value chain, while continuing to invest in safety, inclusion, and training across the organisation.

Three questions to Anders Jensen, CEO

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 have done without their support. They have 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 has grown from a Swedish company to a pan-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 and established Cary Group as a strong leader in our industry. Above all, we did it all in a sustainable way."

What is your view on the sustainability 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 a key priority, but it remained equally important to create added value for the Group's employees. This includes securing their health and safety, promoting diversity and ensuring a sustainable supply chain."