Lőrinc Mészáros is expanding in Slovenia, Croatia, and North Macedonia.
The Talentis Group, a Meszaros Group member, together with Slovenia’s ALFI Private Equity Fund and several smaller partners have acquired a 100pc stake in baby supplies chain store Baby Center through Alfi Kids, Meszaros Group told MTI.
Baby Center operates 52 stores in Slovenia, 36 in Croatia and 2 in North Macedonia and has more than 700 employees.
Meszaros Group said with the transaction it will integrate a regionally dominant player into its retail portfolio, alongside Brendon acquired in 2024, which fits well with its long-term international growth goals in the baby, maternity and children retail and wholesale sector.
The main goal of this investment is to strengthen sustainable operations and regional presence, as well as to jointly optimise the operational and logistics processes of Baby Center and Brendon, build strong partner and supplier relationships, and implement IT and customer relationship management developments, the group said.
The company’s press release quotes Lőrinc Mészáros, owner of the Mészáros Group.
He said: “Our primary goal is to ensure a smooth transition, during which we will guarantee the usual high level of service for our customers and business partners. Our group already operates such leading brands and retail chains as Brendon, so the acquisition will enable us to offer an even wider range of products, more efficient logistics, and a higher level of service in both retail and wholesale. The Baby Center group’s decades of market experience, strong brand value, and stable wholesale network significantly strengthen our position in the children’s products segment.”
All this in itself would be nothing more than a minor business news item, but the personality of the owner makes it more than that.
Who is Lőrinc Mészáros?
Lőrinc Mészáros is a Hungarian businessman and former mayor of Felcsút (2011–2018) who has become one of the most prominent and controversial economic figures in Hungary over the past decade and a half. Originally trained as a gas fitter and working as a local small entrepreneur, he began building a vast business empire at an extraordinarily rapid pace from the early 2010s onward. In public life, his name is closely associated with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, with whom he has long maintained a close personal relationship and shares strong ties to the village of Felcsút.
His wealth has been built primarily through state and state-linked contracts, as well as acquisitions in strategic sectors such as construction, energy, banking, agriculture, media, and tourism. His business interests include major construction companies, banks, insurance firms, hotel chains, energy companies, and media outlets. According to the Hungarian edition of Forbes, Mészáros’s fortune in recent years has reached 1,700 billion forints (approximately 5.1 billion USD) making him the richest person in Hungary by a wide margin, far ahead of other domestic business magnates.
The speed and circumstances of his enrichment have made Mészáros the subject of sustained and intense criticism. Critics argue that his success is not based solely on market performance, but relies heavily on access to state investments, public procurement contracts, and a politically favorable regulatory environment. He is frequently described as a “NER oligarch,” a term referring to entrepreneurs who rose to prominence within the system of the National Cooperation System established after 2010.
Mészáros and those close to him consistently reject these criticisms, maintaining that his wealth was accumulated legally through hard work, sound business decisions, and risk-taking. Nevertheless, he has become a symbolic figure in Hungarian public life: for many, he represents the close intertwining of political power and economic advancement.
