On Friday, Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Inc., which operates multiple digital B2B marketplaces, including IronPlanet.com, released details on how it will fund its $1.1 billion acquisition of Euro Auctions Group.

A U.S. auctioneer and B2B marketplace operator for used construction and earth-moving equipment is one step closer to going global.

On Friday, Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Inc., which operates multiple digital B2B marketplaces, including IronPlanet.com, released details on how it will fund its $1.1 billion acquisition of Euro Auctions Group.

Ritchie Bros. announced in August it was acquiring Euro Auctions, which conducts about 60 auctions across its nine locations in the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, Germany, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, and the U.S., also sells items through a timed auction and a B2B marketplace with buy now and make offer options.

To fund the deal, which Ritchie Bros. expects to do by the end of the year or early next year, the company will sell $935 million in senior notes. All in, the company is using a combination of cash on hand and new debt and bridge financing from Goldman Sachs Bank USA to pay for the acquisition.

Senior notes are bonds that will be repaid to investors before most other debts if the issuer declares bankruptcy, according to Investoropedia.com.

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Ritchie Bros. says it will be retaining Euro Auctions employees and its brand, both of which are highly regarded in the company’s key markets. “This (the acquisition) will expand our (Ritchie Bros.) overall footprint and access to equipment, while also tapping into new revenue streams with service offerings to Euro Auctions customers, including inventory management services, data solutions, financing, warranty, insurance, inspections, refurbishing, shipping, and more,” says Ritchie Bros.

In 2020 Euro Auctions conducted about 60 actions and sold more than 90,000 items that represented sales of about 484 million euro (US $545.6 million), says Ritchie Bros. “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,” says Ritchie Bros. CEO Ann Fandozzi. “Euro Auctions has considerable presence across Europe and the Middle East, particularly in the U.K. and Germany and will serve as a platform to accelerate international growth.”

Ritchie Bros. buys and sells equipment for the construction, transportation, agriculture, energy, government, and other industries.

More than 3,200 companies from 45 countries have sold assets on Marketplace-E, the company’s primary B2B marketplace. The top five equipment categories on the marketplace include truck tractors, excavators, dozers, cranes and pipelayer machines from manufacturers such as Caterpillar Inc., John Deere (Deere & Co.), Komatsu Ltd., Freightliner (Daimler Trucks North America LLC), and International (Navistar Inc.).

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For the third quarter ended Sept. 30, Ritchie Bros. posted a 1% decrease in revenue to $329.7 million from $331.5 million in the third quarter of 2020. Net income was $32.4 million vs. $45.4 million in the prior year. Gross merchandise volume in the third quarter was $1.27 billion, a decrease of 4% from $1.32 billion in the third quarter of 2020.

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