Friction One Acquires BPI’s World-Class Engineering R&D and Testing Laboratory, Reinforcing Its Commitment to Authentic Raybestos

LOS ANGELES — July 14, 2026 — Today, we announced the acquisition of the research and development and testing laboratory formerly operated by BPI at its facility in McHenry, Illinois, a world-class engineering and validation operation that shaped the standards behind the Raybestos name. The acquisition builds directly on our June 2026 acquisition of the Raybestos brand and formulations, bringing the physical engineering backbone behind that legacy in-house.

The deal includes seven dynamometers - among them are two flagship LINK Model 3900 units, widely regarded as among the most advanced brake dynamometers in the industry, alongside LINK Model 2900 and 3000 dynamometers and their full complement of fixtures, tooling, and support equipment. Also included are two LINK Model 600 Chase testing machines and the laboratory's broader material analysis fleet, together with the exact raw materials used to make Raybestos brake pads.

"In this deal, we are bringing home the very laboratory where the engineering standards behind Raybestos were forged," said Jim Zhang, Founder and CEO of Friction One. "Owning all these tools and machines means we can build one of the world's most advanced R&D laboratories to validate, innovate, and stand behind every product we build, for decades to come."

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Nate Kinkley, who previously worked at the R&D lab for BPI and now serves as Director of Product Engineering at Friction One, led the on-site acquisition effort in McHenry, directing the team through inventorying, disassembling, and preparing the equipment for shipment to our production centers in Juárez and China.

"These dynamometers are an integral part of Raybestos' reputation of trust and innovation," said Kinkley. "Now that we own them outright, we have the capability to match and lead the standards in braking. It changes how rigorous, and how fast we can validate and develop product going forward."

Over the coming weeks these units will be deployed to our production centers in Juárez, MX and Xiantao, CN, where they will join existing equipment for a robust development and validation process. Combined with the Raybestos brand and technical assets acquired earlier this year, the acquisition gives us the capability to match our manufacturing scale: engineering, validating, and manufacturing braking products under one integrated platform, in service of Authentic Raybestos.

We also plan to outfit several of the newly acquired dynamometers with brake particulate emissions testing equipment, enabling in-house testing to Euro 7's new brake particulate emissions limits. This capability will allow us to test and validate braking products for the European market as Euro 7 requirements come into force. Combined with the rest of the lab's dynamometer and testing fleet, the buildout positions the facility as one of the most advanced brake testing and validation operations in the world, capable of testing and validating product to the standards of markets worldwide.

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