Ritchie Bros. to acquire Euro Auctions and expand international presence

By MEq August 9, 2021 19:32

Ritchie Bros. has entered into an agreement to acquire Euro Auctions, a leading heavy machinery auctioneer in EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa). This acquisition, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022, will see the two brands working together to make asset management and disposition easier than ever, with solutions and services for every situation.

Founded in 1998, Euro Auctions conducts unreserved heavy equipment auctions with online and onsite bidding under the brands Euro Auctions and Yoder & Frey, with 200+ employees in 14 countries. In 2020 the company conducted 60 auctions, selling close to 90,000 items across its nine locations in Germany, Spain, Northern Ireland, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, and the United States.

Similar to Ritchie Bros., Euro Auctions also sells items through a timed auction format and a daily marketplace with Buy Now and Make Offer options.
Between our two great companies, there are 88 years of experience, an amazing customer-focused team, state-of-the-art auction sites, innovative online platforms, along with a suite of different solutions and services. As our customer, you’ll be able to access it all.

For the next several months, while we await regulatory approval, it will be ‘business as usual’ for our customers as we remain two separate businesses. However, we will be planning our integration so we can hit the ground running once the transaction closes.

Ritchie Bros. CEO, Ann Fandozzi: “Ritchie Bros. and Euro Auctions are an ideal fit with a united goal to make asset insights, service offerings and disposition solutions easier than ever. Euro Auctions has an incredibly talented team, with expertise in asset sourcing, auction operations, sales, and customer service. Their ‘can do’ attitude and entrepreneurial spirit combined with technology has helped them adapt and grow, in much the same way as we have. This acquisition significantly accelerates our strategy to drive revenue and earnings growth and add shareholder value by continuing to expand our capabilities in new channels, sectors, regions, and customer segments.”

Euro Auctions Founder & Director, Derek Keys: “Dave Ritchie and his brothers were a big inspiration for my brothers and I in the creation of Euro Auctions. We modeled much of what we do off Dave’s customer-centric philosophy, which still runs through Ritchie Bros. today. Bringing us together will drive value for customers, as we provide more equipment, solutions, and services to the many industries and regions in which we operate.”