Our History
Cooling experts since 1985
We believe innovation is not a moment. It is a continuous journey: driven by vision, responsibility and the courage to act.
Since 1985, LUVE has been shaping the evolution of the heat exchangers market, developing solutions designed to perform, endure and set new standards across the cooling industry.
We call it: "The shape of cooling".
Founded by Iginio Liberali in 1985 by acquiring Contardo S.p.A, LUVE has reached a leading position in the HVACR industry.
LUVE: a LUcky VEnture
The shape of cooling since 1985
From a bold entrepreneurial intuition to a global benchmark in the cooling industry.
Since 1985, we have been shaping the evolution of the heat exchangers market with solutions designed to perform, endure and set new standards.
A LUcky VEnture
Every industrial story begins with a choice.
Ours began in 1985, in Uboldo, northern Italy.
Driven by vision and determination, our founder Iginio Liberali invested his savings in an independent industrial project. He called it Lucky Venture. Not as a wish, but as a mindset.
That name became LUVE. And it still defines the way we work: taking responsibility, trusting expertise and facing complexity with clarity and courage.
Our industrial roots
Heritage is only valuable when it evolves.
In 1985 our journey started acquiring Contardo S.p.A., a historic company founded in 1928 and specialized in heat exchangers.
We inherited consolidated know-how and reshaped it through research, engineering and a new way of conceiving refrigeration, air conditioning and industrial cooling and energy and powe generation. Performance, efficiency and reliability became our reference points.
Shaping standards
Innovation proves its value when it performs.
As we grew, we challenged the conventions of our industry. We introduced technologies and solutions that redefined quality and performance standards, often stepping ahead of the curve.
Our approach has always been pragmatic and measurable. Innovation, for us, is not abstract. It is something that delivers efficiency gains, reliability and long-term value.
Becoming a Group
Growth requires vision. And people.
With the acquisition of SEST in 1991, LUVE officially became a Group. Over time, we expanded our industrial footprint through targeted integrations in Europe, Asia and the Americas. What started as a Group of strong industrial realities has progressively evolved into a single organization, sharing the same vision, processes and way of working.
Today, LUVE operates as one company made of people, expertise and cultures from different countries.
Each step strengthened our expertise, broadened our technological capabilities and allowed us to serve customers with increasing precision across applications and markets.
Thinking global, acting locally
Consistency is what makes global scale reliable.
We shaped a global industrial presence.
Today, our production sites and teams operate across key international markets, developing solutions for commercial and industrial refrigeration, air conditioning, process cooling, power generation cooling and critical infrastructures such as data centers, according to local customers' needs.
We are the company that reshaped the HVACR industry
In 2015, LUVE entered its capital market journey, listing on the Italian Stock Exchange on the AIM Italia segment. The company’s steady growth and strong positioning led to its move to the MTA in 2017, and later, in 2022, to the Euronext STAR Milan segment, recognizing its high standards in performance, transparency, and governance.
Listed on the Milan Stock Exchange
"LUVE is the embodiment of the principle that,
first and foremost, companies are women, men and ideas."
- The gardener of dreams, Iginio Liberali
LUVE Founder
Our Statement
We believe people are our primary resource in the present and an invaluable asset for the future.
1985
Contardo S.p.A. (Italy)
Our first step. The acquisition of a historic heat exchanger manufacturer provided a solid industrial heritage and a proven technical base. It set the foundations for reshaping expertise into modern, high‑performance solutions.
1991
SEST (Italy)
A turning point. With SEST, LUVE became a Group. The integration broadened our product portfolio and anchored a long‑term partnership model that would guide future growth. Specifically, LUVE started to produce OEM Heat Exchangers.
2000
TGD – Thermo Glass Doors (Italy)
Entry into adjacent technologies. TGD expanded our scope into glass door systems for commercial refrigeration, strengthening vertical integration and system‑level expertise.
2002-2003
SEST/LUVE Polska and HTS (Central & Eastern Europe)
Strategic expansion into fast growing European manufacturing hubs. These integrations increased industrial capacity, proximity to customers and operational flexibility across key markets.
2011
AIA (Sweden)
Strengthening industrial and power generation expertise. The acquisition of AIA expanded our capabilities in industrial refrigeration and power generation applications, adding advanced know‑how that today also supports high‑performance data center cooling.
2011
Manufacturing presence in China
Geographic expansion into emerging Asian markets. Establishing a direct industrial footprint in China supported long‑term growth in high‑potential regions, combining local production with LUVE’s global engineering standards.
2016
Spirotech (India)
A gateway to the Indian market. The acquisition added local industrial capabilities and positioned LUVE within one of the world’s fastest‑growing economies.
2018
Zyklus Heat Transfer Inc. (United States)
Direct presence in North America. Zyklus reinforced our footprint in the US market, enhancing responsiveness, customer proximity and competitiveness in commercial and industrial refrigeration.
2019
AL Air – Alfa Laval (Italy, Nordics, India, Benelux)
The acquisition of Alfa Laval’s air heat exchanger division brought advanced know-how, R-fin technology and a strategic presence in the Nordics, strengthening our industrial approach and product range with more robust constructions and designs optimized for demanding conditions.
2022-2024
Refrion Group (Italy)
Refrion strengthened our position in large-scale and process applications, bringing expertise in adiabatic solutions, advanced technologies such as the Refrion Tube and Refrion Wet and expanded testing capabilities under real working conditions, further reinforcing our integrated approach and long-term value creation.
2026
Rebranding: a new chapter
A new chapter
A new identity shaped by our legacy.
In 2026, the year of the 40th anniversary of LUVE, we introduced our new brand identity.
Not as a break from the past, but as its natural evolution. A visual and verbal language that brings together our heritage and our forward-looking mindset.
“The shape of cooling” expresses who we are today, thanks to our past: a company that has helped shape its industry and is fully aware of the responsibility that comes with a leading role.
Shaping what’s next
Our history is a process, not a timeline.
Guided by our legacy and powered by the passion of our people, we continue to develop performing, customer-oriented solutions designed to support the future of the cooling industry.
This is how we have worked since 1985. This is how we will keep shaping cooling, one step at a time.