Lowe acquires Abbey Design and Spherica

UK: Refrigeration equipment rental company Lowe Corporation has acquired two UK companies – refrigeration consultant Abbey Design Associates (ADA) and IoT technology company Spherica Systems. 

Lisburn-based Lowe says the acquisition of ADA adds a substantial level of commercial refrigeration design and consultancy expertise to the group.  Meanwhile, Spherica will join Lowe’s global LoweConex remote monitoring brand. 

Commenting on the deal, Garry Turner, founder of ADA and Spherica, said “The acquisition of our businesses by Lowe is a very exciting and welcome milestone for all here at ADA and Spherica. Having the backing of such a large, globally respected company unlocks new and significant growth potential in markets and geographies that historically would have been out of reach. The Lowe team also brings a wealth of commercial experience to our offering, helping to deliver strong consistent growth long into the future.” 

Gloucester-based ADA was formed in 2006 as an independent refrigeration design and project management consultancy. A complete end-to-end consultation and solutions provider, ADA has been developing tailored refrigeration support services for leading food retailers including Morrisons, Co-op, Waitrose, Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury’s. 

Spherica, formed in 2017, is a software and hardware development house with a patented unified data platform. According to Lowe, the technology has completely changed how a wide range of data rich industries – including retail – harvest, view, interpret and act upon the data their connected assets produce via automated two-way communication functionality.  

Rodney Lowry, CEO of Lowe described the two new businesses as a perfect fit. “There are excellent synergies between the companies, and this can be seen in aligned cultures around customer service and our reputation as trusted innovators,” he said.