More than 110 cranes sold at unreserved Ritchie Bros. auctions during week
VANCOUVER, B.C. (June 15, 2009) – Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers (NYSE and TSX: RBA), the world’s largest industrial auctioneer, sold more than 110 cranes and millions of dollars of other heavy equipment and trucks at its unreserved public auctions last week, including a CA$58 million (US$52 million) auction in Edmonton, Alberta (June 10 & 11, 2009) and a US$41 million auction in Houston, Texas (June 10 – 12).
EDMONTON, ALBERTA – More than 4,700 people from 18 countries registered to bid on-site and online at the unreserved auction conducted by Ritchie Bros. at its permanent auction site in Edmonton, Alberta on June 10 & 11, 2009. The auction included more than 4,100 heavy equipment items and trucks and generated gross auction proceeds in excess of CA$58 million (almost US$52 million). Among the items sold: 33 hydraulic truck, crawler, rough terrain and other cranes, including two 2002 Liebherr 200-ton crawler cranes that sold for CA$800,000 (US$715,000) each.
More than 1,500 of the bidders registered to bid online in real time. Online bidders purchased more than CA$18 million (US$16 million) of equipment – including an online bidder from Mexico who bought three cranes. Buyers from outside Alberta purchased CA$27 million (US$24 million) of equipment (47 percent of the total).
“We had a really international crowd in Edmonton last week, with active bidding on both days over the internet,” said Jake Lawson, Ritchie Bros. Regional Manager. “We had a fantastic lineup of equipment to sell, including a large selection of cranes that attracted bidders from Mexico, Europe, the Middle East and all over North America to the site. Now that construction and oilfield work in Alberta has slowed down a little, reaching that international market is even more important for equipment sellers.”
HOUSTON, TEXAS – Ritchie Bros. conducted the second auction at its new, larger permanent auction site in Houston, Texas from June 10 – 12, 2009, selling more than US$41 million of equipment and trucks over three days. Almost 2,700 people from 47 countries, including all 50 U.S. states, registered to bid in person (54 percent) or online (46 percent) on more than 3,200 items, including 56 cranes that sold to buyers from as far away as India and the Middle East.
Online bidders purchased nearly US$15 million of equipment (36 percent of the total gross auction proceeds), setting a new Houston site record for online sales. Out-of-state buyers purchased more than US$22 million of equipment (55 percent), including more than US$13 million of equipment (35 percent) purchased by people from outside the United States.
“We had a huge foreign contingent bidding in person and online at our Houston auction,” said Alan McVicker, Ritchie Bros. Regional Manager. “Cranes were definitely the highlight. The crane market is clearly still strong: prices were solid and they went to buyers from all over the world. Construction and transportation equipment also sold well. We’re able to consign and sell more equipment from our new larger site, and our close proximity to the international airport and shipping terminals makes it easy for us to serve a worldwide customer base. Once again, that global audience helped us deliver strong returns for our consignors.”
The auction also featured 49 concrete pump trucks from the complete dispersal for Pumpco Inc. Ritchie Bros. will sell the remaining 37 concrete pump trucks from Pumpco this week in Atlanta, Georgia (on June 18). There are 67 other unreserved Ritchie Bros. auctions on the upcoming auction calendar at www.rbauction.com – including the Company’s first ever auction in India, in Hyderabad on September 25, 2009.
About Ritchie Bros.
Established in 1958, Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers (NYSE and TSX: RBA) is the world’s largest industrial auctioneer, selling more equipment to on-site and online bidders than any other company in the world. The Company has over 110 locations in more than 25 countries including 38 auction sites worldwide. Ritchie Bros. sells, through unreserved public auctions, a broad range of used and unused industrial assets, including equipment, trucks and other assets utilized in the construction, transportation, agricultural, material handling, mining, forestry, petroleum and marine industries. The Company maintains a web site at www.rbauction.com and sponsors an equipment wiki at www.RitchieWiki.com.
Investors and potential investors should note that this information may not be indicative of the overall financial performance of the Company for this or any period.
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For more information contact:
Kim Schulz, Corporate Communications Manager, Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers
Mobile: +1.604.788.5379 or email: [email protected]
Or
Jake Lawson, Regional Manager, Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers
Edmonton auction site tel: +1.780.955.2486
Or
Alan McVicker, Regional Manager, Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers
Houston auction site tel: +1.713.455.5200