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GEELONG, VICTORIA, March 20, 2013 /CNW/ – Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers (NYSE and TSX: RBA), the world’s largest industrial auctioneer, officially opened its new auction facility in Geelong, Victoria yesterday during a multi-million dollar grand opening auction. More than 1,440 bidders from more than 30 countries registered on site or online to participate in yesterday’s unreserved public auction in Geelong, which featured more than 950 heavy equipment and transportation items from more than 115 sellers. A ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the official opening of the new building featured the CEO of the Victoria Civil Contractors Federation and Ritchie Bros. employees (ribbon cutting photos available at www.rbauction.com/photos). Ritchie Bros. has been conducting unreserved public auctions in Australia for more than 20 years and in the state of Victoria for more than 15 years.
“We are very proud to welcome bidders from across Australia and around the world to our new facility in Geelong,” said Warwick Mackrell, Vice President, Sales, Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers. “We want to thank all of our customers who have made this day possible and look forward to continuing to serve the world’s builders from our new site.”
The 40-acre Geelong auction site features a new 2,489-square-meter (approx. 26,790-square-foot) auction building with a 670-seat main auction theatre, where items are brought over a ramp in front of the seated crowd while being sold. There is also a 500-seat capacity Virtual Ramp theatre, where items are shown on a screen while being sold.
John Stewart, CEO of Victoria Civil Contractors Federation and the ribbon-cutter at the Grand Opening ceremony added: “Ritchie Bros. is a staple in our industry and very important to the development of our growing region. On behalf of the Victoria Civil Contractors Federation, I’d like to congratulate Ritchie Bros. for this beautiful new facility that I know will help our members and beyond for years to come.”
“We welcomed a large and diverse bidding crowd at our grand opening auction yesterday. People registered from all around Australia as well as from overseas, including registered bidders from the United Kingdom, Singapore and the Netherlands,” added Finlay Massey, Regional Sales Manager for Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers.
The Company sold equipment for more than 115 consignors in yesterday’s auction including equipment from Hazell Bros., a diversified Tasmanian construction company. Hazell Bros. has experience across a broad range of civil construction fields, including roads and bridges; water infrastructure; energy infrastructure; dams; bulk earthworks: jetties, wharves and marinas; and demolition. Hazell Bros. has been buying and selling equipment at Ritchie Bros. auctions for more than five years. During yesterday’s Geelong grand opening auction, Hazell Bros. sold more than 25 heavy equipment items, including a selection of concrete trucks, wheel loaders and prime movers.
“The advantage of selling with Ritchie Bros. is that you not only sell to Victoria, or the local market, but you sell to all of Australia and beyond,” said Robert Hazell, Director of Hazell Bros. “We recently finished a project and had some surplus equipment that we decided to sell in the grand opening auction. Competition was strong and we had good results in the sale of our gear.”
More than 1,200 bidders from all around Australia registered to participate in yesterday’s grand opening auction in Geelong, including more than 900 registered bidders from the local state of Victoria. One of them was Geelong-based Hoare Bros. Pty. Ltd., one of Australia’s premier providers of mining, earthmoving services and equipment and civil construction with operations in Victoria, New South Wales, Southern Australia, Queensland and Tasmania.
“What I find incredible as a buyer is the ability that Ritchie Bros. gives me to find equipment that I need -but would otherwise need to source from overseas- at an auction that’s in the same location where my business is based,” said Matthew Hoare, Managing Director of Hoare Bros. Pty. Ltd. “Our company has been buying and selling equipment at Ritchie Bros. auctions for more than 20 years and like my father before me, Ritchie Bros. is my first choice when buying and selling heavy equipment.”
The Ritchie Bros. auction calendar currently features more than 130 unreserved public auctions, including an unreserved public auction at the Company’s permanent auction site in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia tomorrow, Thursday, March 21, 2013. The next Ritchie Bros. Geelong auction is scheduled for June 25, 2013. If you’re interested in selling equipment at this or any upcoming Ritchie Bros. auction, contact the local site at +61.3.5245.3333 or visit rbauction.com.
