Two Hungarian private investors have acquired 100% of Festékipari Kutató Kft. (FKI), a specialist manufacturer and research company in the high-temperature industrial paint sector, from its founding owners János Bognár and Éva Lengyel. The transaction completed on 22 May 2026.

Founded in 1989 as the successor to the former Budalakk Central Research Laboratory, FKI has grown into the third largest player in the European market for high-temperature industrial paints, serving customers across Europe and beyond. The company operates a vertically integrated business model combining specialised manufacturing, an accredited testing laboratory (Qualilakk), technical consulting, and in-house product innovation, supported by a portfolio of hundreds of proprietary formulations.

The incoming owners bring extensive international management experience and intend to build on FKI's research and technical foundations to scale the business, with a particular focus on the growing market opportunity in water-based coating technologies driven by evolving European regulatory requirements.

IMAP Hungary acted as exclusive transaction advisor to the sellers on the transaction.