Entrepreneur Story: Johan Carlos, Strands Group
Strands Group is one of Relais Group’s clearest examples of how a niche aftermarket company can be developed into a strong premium brand platform. The Swedish company, known for its proprietary vehicle lighting and accessories, became part of Relais Group in early 2021 after the acquisition agreed in December 2020 was completed.
Johan Carlos joined Strands at the age of 18 and quickly fell in love with the company, its culture and the people around it. After working his way through sales and export, he became CEO in 2017. Today, he also serves as Head of Business Area Products and Solutions in the Relais Group management team.
For Johan and the company’s founder John Strand, finding the right new owner was never only about valuation. It was about fit.
“We had several interested parties knocking on our door over the years, but the match with Relais felt right from the start. Relais is a niche owner that truly understands our aftermarket world, and the ownership horizon is long-term rather than buy-and-sell,” Johan says.
Other potential owners could have offered capital, but Relais offered something more important: relevance, understanding and long-term ownership. Equally important were the Relais people the Strands team met early in the process. Their values, entrepreneurial mindset and passion for the automotive aftermarket felt aligned with Strands from day one.
One distinguishing feature of the Strands story is how carefully the company prepared for the transaction. The first discussions with Relais began around 2018, and the process matured for two more years before the transaction in 2020. Since then, Strands has continued to fuel its growth largely through its own resources, while being part of a listed group has raised the bar on monthly closings, internal processes and overall quality. Johan sees this as a clear strengthening of the company.
Johan’s own development has also accelerated under Relais ownership. The biggest practical change has been access to a wider network of experienced peers and group leaders, which has pushed him to think bigger, broaden his strategic perspective and develop from leading a stand-alone company to building a broader business area.
What has not changed is his leadership philosophy. “For me, leadership from the barricades means being close to the people, the product and the customer. It means leading with passion and heart, while giving the people around you real room to grow,” Johan says.
That same philosophy now shapes how he leads Products and Solutions. The business area is built around entrepreneurs and companies with strong product passion, brand potential and the ambition to keep building. The goal is not to remove their entrepreneurial energy, but to strengthen it.
“That is also the kind of energy we look for in entrepreneurs who want to keep building their company with us. People with passion for the product, love for the customer and the ambition to take the next step together,” Johan says.