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Private company

BYK Additives & Instruments

Logo: Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons3

German supplier of additives and measuring instruments

BYK is a globally operating supplier of additives and measuring instruments. The areas of application of BYK additives include the coatings, inks, plastics and oil/gas industries, the manufacture of care products, the manufacture of adhesives and sealants, and construction chemistry. The instruments section (BYK-Gardner GmbH) develops measuring instruments for evaluating the color, appearance and physical properties of coatings, plastics and paper surfaces.2 It is part of Altana.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1873Founded1
  • Industrychemical industry1
  • HeadquartersWesel1
  • Websitebyk.com
  • Legal formGesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung1

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BYK is a globally operating supplier of additives and measuring instruments.2

Corporate structure

BYK Additives & Instruments is part of a group headed by Altana. 9 entities, 2 countries on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

  • Altana Wesel, Germany
    • BYK Additives & Instruments Wesel
    • Actega Subsidiary · Wesel, Germany
    • Byk Gulden Subsidiary · Constance, Germany
    • Eckart (Unternehmen) Subsidiary · Hartenstein, Germany
    • Elantas Subsidiary · Wesel, Germany
    • ACTEGA Metal Print GmbH Subsidiary · Lehrte, Germany
    • ALTANA Management Services GmbH Subsidiary · Wesel, Germany
    • ALTANA Netherlands B.V. Subsidiary · Deventer, Netherlands

Built from parent and subsidiary links from GLEIF, the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (CC0); subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0). Each entity in the chart links to its source.

The story

In 1873, Heinrich Byk founded a chemicals factory in Berlin under his name, in which he initially produced soporific drugs. In 1917, the firm merged with the dye and tanning works to form Byk-Guldenwerke AG; the photochemical factory Ernst Lomberg was acquired subsequently. The first BYK additive for coatings came on the market in 1935. It enabled pigments to be distributed evenly in coatings. In 1962, BYK established the site in Wesel, where it commenced production of paint and plastics additives.

BYK has production sites in Germany (Wesel, Kempen, Moosburg an der Isar, Schkopau and Geretsried), the Netherlands (Deventer, Nijverdal and Denekamp), the United Kingdom (Widnes), the United States (Wallingford, Chester, Gonzales, Louisville, Earth City and Pompano Beach) and China (Tongling).

From Wikipedia’s article on BYK Additives & Instruments, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Products and brands

BYK invests around 8% of turnover each year in research and development – this is more than double the amount customary in the sector.

From Wikipedia’s article on BYK Additives & Instruments, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Subsidiaries and ownership

Parent company

From Wikidata.1

Timeline

  1. 1873Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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