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BYK - your additive experts

BYK is a leading global supplier of specialty chemicals. The company’s innovative additives and differentiated solutions optimize product and material properties as well as production and application processes. Amongst other things, BYK additives improve scratch resistance and surface gloss, the mechanical strength or flow behavior of materials, and properties such as UV- and light stability or flame retardancy. In the field of quality assurance, BYK’s measuring and testing instruments serve to effectively assess appearance and physical properties.

Our customers

The company’s customers include manufacturers of coatings and printing inks, plastics, adhesives and sealants, as well as cleaners, floor coatings, and lubricants. BYK additives are also successfully used in the construction chemistry, oil and gas, and foundry industries.

BYK worldwide

BYK has a global network of subsidiaries and operates production sites in Germany (Wesel, Kempen, Schkopau, Moosburg, Geretsried), the Netherlands (Deventer, Denekamp, Nijverdal), and the UK (Widnes), in the USA (Wallingford, Chester, Columbia, Earth City, Gonzales, Louisville, Pittsford), and in China (Shanghai, Tongling). The company is part of the ALTANA Group and employs a workforce of more than 2,500 people worldwide.

The future in retrospect – the BYK company history

150 years of experience

Dr. Heinrich Byk

1917

1962

2020

2020

BYK acquired the Texan solutions provider Gulf Scientific.

2017

BYK further expanded its plastics business by acquiring PolyAd Services.

2016

BYK acquired the Dutch additives manufacturer Addcomp.

2013

BYK acquired Rockwood’s rheology business with four manufacturing sites in Germany, England and the USA, expanding its portfolio to include clay-based additives.

2011

BYK acquired Kometra, a manufacturer of polymer modifiers.

2010

Susanne Klatten, majority shareholder in ALTANA, acquired all shares in the name of her SKion GmbH. ALTANA was thus fully transferred to family ownership.

1991

BYK acquired CERA Chemie B.V. and expanded its portfolio to include wax additives.

1985

With the acquisition of Labotron AG, BYK laid the foundation for its instruments business.

1977

VARTA AG was divided into three separate companies. One of those is ALTANA AG, to which BYK belongs.

1964

BYK-Gulden founded BYK-Chemie USA. In 1981, the company moved to Wallingford, where the company still has its US headquarters.

1962

BYK-Gulden founded a subsidiary plant in Wesel. AFA, the parent company of BYK-Gulden, was renamed VARTA AG.

1943-1945

The greater part of the manufacturing and office space in Berlin was completely destroyed. The company evacuated documents and formulations to a bank safe in Constance. Company renamed as BYK-Gulden.

1941

Dr. Günther Quandt, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Accumulatoren-Fabrik AG (AFA), acquired a majority stake in the company and became Chairman of the Supervisory Board.

1935

BYK launched the first dispersing agent on the market. Down to the present day, ANTI-TERRA-U remains one of the most successful coating additives.

1917

Byk’s chemicals manufactory merged with Leipziger Farbwerke Paul Gulden & Co. to form BYK-Guldenwerke Chemische Fabrik AG.

1873

Dr. Heinrich Byk founded a chemicals manufactory in Berlin and began producing industrial and commercial chemicals.