CEO: Bret Holden
Employees: 250
IMO Car Wash Group is the world's largest car wash company, washing over 30 million cars each year across 14 countries. IMO operates over 930 sites, including more than 330 in the United Kingdom trading as arc Clean Car Centres, and over 345 sites in Germany. IMO is both the European and global market leader in terms of site numbers, geographical coverage and unit volume. Combining its scale and low cost approach, IMO provide customers with exceptional value for money.
IMO was founded in Germany in 1965 and expanded to include sites in the UK, and throughout Continental Europe. In 1990 the German operation was sold to fund the further development of the UK business. At the end of 1998 Bridgepoint Capital led a management buy-in acquiring the Group (excluding Germany) and subsequently provided funding for IMO to reacquire the original German operation from Harpen AG in January 2002. In Jan 2004, the Group was acquired by JP Morgan Partners.
IMO Car Wash was acquired by The Carlyle Group in March 2006. With our global footprint, Carlyle is supporting IMO as it seeks to develop its range of sites and services and expand geographically. Since the Carlyle acquisition, IMO has opened its first car washes in Poland and Australia and now with over 930 sites, IMO is the world’s largest independent car wash operator.
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