From Market Entry to Strategic Expansion

Since establishing its presence in France in July 2024, CARYA has focused on building a strong local foundation. The latest expansion, marked by the opening of a new office in Toulouse and the onboarding of experienced IT specialists, reflects a clear strategic direction.

“Our ambition in France is to support dealer groups across the full scope of their IT ecosystem, with a local team that understands their operational realities,” says Michel Plantevin, Country Manager of CARYA France.

This move strengthens CARYA’s ability to deliver both proximity and expertise in a market where digital transformation is accelerating rapidly.

A Fully Integrated Technology Offering

With this new activity, CARYA France significantly broadens its portfolio. Beyond DMS, CRM, AI and business intelligence, the company now covers the full IT infrastructure stack, including cybersecurity.

• Dealer groups can rely on CARYA for:
• hardware and server provisioning
• full IT infrastructure management
• cloud and endpoint security
• cybersecurity training and awareness
• security audits and compliance support

“Dealer groups are increasingly aware that IT infrastructure and cybersecurity are no longer support functions, but critical business enablers,” explains Frédéric Sire. “Our role is to make these topics manageable, secure and aligned with their growth.”

Responding to a Growing Cybersecurity Imperative

The expansion comes at a time when cybersecurity concerns are rising sharply across the automotive distribution sector. Sensitive customer data, connected systems and cloud environments make dealerships increasingly vulnerable.

CARYA France is already supporting major dealer groups with security audits and the protection of both on-premise and cloud environments.

This early traction confirms a structural shift in the market: cybersecurity is no longer optional.

Disrupting Telecom with a Controlled, Cost-Efficient Model

As part of this new offering, CARYA France is also introducing an integrated telephony and internet solution based on MVNO-type models.

The value proposition is clear:

• up to 40% cost reduction compared to traditional operators
• full control and management by CARYA
• simplified processes and faster response times
• flexible scaling aligned with customer needs
• centralized user support

This approach reinforces CARYA’s positioning as a single, accountable partner across all IT layers.

Strengthening CARYA’s Role as a Technology Accelerator

By integrating IT infrastructure, cybersecurity and telecom into its offering, CARYA France is moving closer to its ambition: enabling dealer groups to operate, scale and innovate with confidence.

“We are not just adding services,” concludes Michel Plantevin. “We are building an ecosystem that allows our clients to focus on their business, while we ensure their technology is secure, efficient and future-proof.”

Conclusion

With this expansion, CARYA France confirms its role as a technology accelerator for automotive distribution groups, combining intelligent tools, tailored services and hands-on implementation.

Dagosoft was founded in 1992 by Reinhold Degenhart and is an established player in software management and data analysis for automotive dealers. The company processes data from over 1,500 German dealer locations through interfaces with 25 different systems – ranging from DMS and CRM to accounting, time recording, and workshop planning. With its proprietary KPI dashboard, it translates this data into clear insights on sales, inventory, and aftersales.

Through the integration of Dagosoft, CARYA expands its expertise in business analytics and data integrations, further establishing the group’s position as a technology accelerator that offers clients greater efficiency, valuable insights, and new growth opportunities.

The acquisition of Dagosoft also strengthens the group’s presence in one of Europe’s largest automotive markets and is an important step for CARYA towards becoming the leading European IT partner for the automotive dealership industry. With this, CARYA completes its fourth strategic acquisition since partnering with Pride Capital Partners in December 2022, thereby further accelerating the ambitious joint buy-and-build strategy.


Reinhold Degenhart, founder and Managing Director of Dagosoft:

"Since our founding in 1992, we have gradually built Dagosoft into a specialist in DMS support, data extraction, and business analytics. Thanks to our extensive client portfolio and the processing of their business data – from sales results to aftersales transactions – we have built a strong market position. We are proud of what we have achieved over the past three decades. Joining CARYA allows us to deploy our technology and solutions on a larger scale and to serve our customers even better."


Didier Passchier, co-CEO of CARYA:

"Dagosoft brings exceptional scale and expertise. Their KPI dashboard and knowledge of data integrations align perfectly with our vision to strengthen our clients' businesses through greater efficiency, valuable insights, and new growth opportunities. This acquisition is not only an expansion of our portfolio, but also an important lever to support clients more effectively and in a more future-oriented way."

Patrick Vanbrabandt, co-CEO of CARYA:

"With the acquisition of Dagosoft, we welcome a strong technology partner while gaining access to an important European region. Having a local presence remains crucial for us to serve clients in the best possible way. By smartly combining our products and services, we want to be a driving force in their digital transformation."

GDMS was specifically developed for the commercial vehicle sector. The software is mainly deployed in France, where it has around 500 users, primarily within the DAF network, but also at Nissan, Isuzu, Iveco, and Volvo.

With this strategic move, CARYA reinforces its ambition to be the reference technology partner for dealerships across Europe – and extends its footprint in the French market and overseas territories.

A growing presence in Europe

Founded in Belgium in 2006, CARYA has experienced strong growth through organic expansion and acquisitions in the Netherlands (2021), Switzerland (2023), and most recently France (2024), where the company now operates from its Lyon office with a team of DMS and CRM deployment and support experts. With this acquisition, CARYA now supports more than 10 000 daily users across five countries.

A shared ambition for digital innovation

Eric Denné, CEO of AdmiralSoft, comments:“The future collaboration with CARYA is an ideal match for AdmiralSoft and will allow us to support our customers even better in their digital transformation with expanded solutions and services. Moreover, we are now able to assist transnational dealer groups more effectively with unified tools and services.”This acquisition also enables CARYA to further strengthen its service offering for commercial vehicle dealerships, a segment in which the company has established experience through collaborations with manufacturers such as DAF, Daimler Truck, Iveco,...

Looking ahead

“This acquisition is an important step for CARYA’s European growth strategy,” says Michel Plantevin, Country Manager CARYA France. “We are delighted to welcome the AdmiralSoft team and look forward to supporting our new clients with the same dedication to quality, innovation, and partnership that defines our group.”

Contact for press inquiries

Michel Plantevin – Country Manager CARYA France
michel.plantevin@carya.eu
+33 451 22 05 00

Let’s drive technology further, together.
www.carya.eu

CARYA's expansion into France comes with the acquisition of the incadea.dms division of French company Solware Auto. Six employees joined CARYA France. With their knowledge and experience, they will ensure that the French branch of the group is immediately operational at a high level.

As was the case with the launch of CARYA Netherlands and CARYA Switzerland, CARYA France is also taking over the existing customer base of the Solware incadea branch, paying attention to service continuity and high-quality service. In total, CARYA is taking over nine contracts in France - a solid foundation for the group's French plans.

“The launch of CARYA France is an important step in our strategy to strengthen and further expand our presence in Europe,” said Patrick Vanbrabandt, CEO of CARYA.

Didier Passchier, CCO of CARYA, adds: “Thanks to the expertise of our team, we are confident that we will be able to best support our customers in France and help them with their digital transformation. Our focus remains on innovation, customer satisfaction and offering advanced technological solutions that seamlessly meet the needs of the market. This is how we want to remain the reference and fulfill our mission as an accelerator for dealerships.”

The six new team members will work from the new CARYA office in Lyon. From there, they will service existing customers as well as expand the French branch with new business. In line with CARYA's existing expansion strategy, this newest member of the group will continue to focus on growth and improvement by investing in both technology and people.




About CARYA
CARYA is a full-service partner for automotive dealerships. The Belgian group is a leading provider of dealer management systems (incadea.dms) and add-on software development. CARYA also provides fully integrated IT solutions (hardware, software and telco infrastructure), professional marketing services and CRM solutions.

With headquarters in Belgium and offices in the Netherlands, Switzerland and now France, CARYA serves customers across Europe with innovative solutions that improve the efficiency and productivity of dealerships.

The Softmotive acquisition will further strengthen CARYA’s position as a full-service IT partner for automotive dealerships on the European market. With its activities currently centered on Benelux, CARYA is ambitious to expand its growth strategy into Europe both via organic and inorganic growth. The acquisition of Softmotive is the first of step in the ambitious hybrid strategy defined in December of 2022, at the conclusion of the financial and strategic partnership with Pride Capital Partners.

Softmotive’s know-how as an incadea partner and the company’s strong relationships with the largest dealership groups in Switzerland makes it the perfect addition to the CARYA portfolio.

By joining CARYA, Softmotive will in turn be able to expand its service offering with in-depth know-how of additional brands such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Peugeot, Opel and Jaguar/Land Rover. Additionally, CARYA delivers integrated IT solutions for hardware, software, and telco infrastructure, professional marketing services and CRM solutions, as well as add-on software development for the incadea Dealer Management System.

CARYA CEO Patrick Vanbrabandt will lead the new group alongside Didier Passchier, Group Director and Chief Strategy Officer.

Speaking of the acquisition, Patrick Vanbrabandt says:

“The acquisition of Softmotive is a key component of CARYA’s strategy to geographically expand our business and to scale our service offering to fit our clients’ needs on a European scale. It allows us to continue our mission of providing the most comprehensive IT offering on the market – from printers to automotive-specific software – all while spanning a geographical area from The Netherlands to Switzerland.”

Juerg Oetzel, CEO of Softmotive comments:

“The future collaboration with CARYA is an ideal fit for Softmotive and will enable us to support our customer base in their digitalization with additional solutions and services. In addition, we are now in a position to assist transnational dealer groups even more effectively with uniform solutions and services.”

Lars van ‘t Hoenderdaal, Managing Partner of Pride Capital Partners adds:

“We are excited about the perfect match between CARYA and Softmotive and look forward to further supporting CARYA’s expansion into the European market as a full-service IT partner for automotive dealerships. Successfully completing this acquisition only a few months after we established our collaboration is a big step both for CARYA and Pride.”


About CARYA

As a full-service IT partner, CARYA aims to be the technological accelerator automotive dealerships need to face the challenges of an ever-changing industry. Headquartered in Puurs-Sint-Amands, Belgium, and with satellite offices in Vianen, The Netherlands, CARYA was founded in 2006 and currently employs over 100 experts, most of which are based in Belgium. The company delivers fully integrated IT solutions for hardware, software, and telco infrastructure, professional marketing services and CRM solutions, as well as add-on software development for the incadea Dealer Management System.

https://www.carya.ch/


About Softmotive

For more than 20 years softmotive is the value-added reseller for incadea Dealer Management Solutions in Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein. The company currently employs 10 experts and operates from offices in Baar/ZG and Lyss/BE. The customer base of softmotive consists of national sales companies and dealer groups of premiums brands, the majority being from the BMW Group.

https://www.softmotive.ch/


About Pride Capital Partners

With over 20 years of experience in the software and IT industry, Pride Capital Partners aims to guide software and IT companies in the Benelux, DACH region and Nordics into their next growth phase by providing flexible capital solutions and strategic advice. Typical scenarios include growth, acquisitions, and management buyout (MBO) transactions. Pride Capital Partners' resources have been made available by shareholders, institutional investors, wealthy individuals, family offices and (former) entrepreneurs. The current portfolio includes 21 companies, three of which are based in Belgium.

https://www.pridecapital.nl/