Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers, Vancouver, British Columbia, announces it will acquire AssetNation Inc., a leading online marketplace and solutions provider for surplus and salvage assets. Ritchie Bros. intends to continue to grow AssetNation's core business as well as to leverage their e-commerce expertise and technology platform to develop and launch unique new services for equipment owners whose buying and selling preferences may not be met by the Company's live unreserved auctions.
AssetNation is active in a number of industry verticals including energy, fleet and distribution, insurance and government. AssetNation is a privately-held company headquartered in Houston, Texas, with offices in Pittsburgh, Pa., Mexico City, Mexico, and London, UK.
"We are very excited to be welcoming AssetNation into the Ritchie Bros. family. Our values are aligned and we share the same passion for bringing fairness and transparency to the equipment market," said Peter Blake, Ritchie Bros.’s CEO, said the company intends to leverage its equipment market knowledge to fuel the growth of AssetNation's business, as well as develop additional solutions to reach this segment of the equipment market that has not been traditionally reached with its unreserved auctions.
The new solutions Ritchie Bros. plans to develop, along with other capabilities the company will add with partners, will be unique in the equipment industry. They will expand the Ritchie Bros. service offering and provide a transparent and efficient way for the non-auction segment of the market to buy and sell equipment. The new services will not be auction services and will align with the company's mission to create compelling business solutions that enable the world's builders to easily and confidently exchange equipment.
"In addition to facilitating the development and launch of our new services, the acquisition is also expected to generate growth for our core unreserved auction business," Blake said. "Many of AssetNation's customer relationships exist in industry verticals that are complementary to Ritchie Bros.' core business, particularly in the energy, fleet and distribution, insurance, and government sectors. We believe that a combined service offering will satisfy the needs of these customers more effectively."
Blake and AssetNation CEO Dave Dawson said the transaction is good not only for customers, but also for employees of both companies. Blake added that he has been impressed by the quality and depth of the AssetNation team and is looking forward to welcoming all of them to the Ritchie Bros. team.
Dawson stated: "The acquisition is a validation of AssetNation's efforts to bring fairness and integrity to the surplus and salvage asset markets and makes good business sense. We have invested over 10 years in developing a robust technology platform for online marketplaces, and as part of the Ritchie Bros. team, we will develop and launch exciting new buying and selling solutions for equipment owners in the non-auction segment. In addition, the strength of the Ritchie Bros. brand will enhance the growth of our existing online marketplaces."
Ritchie Bros. has agreed to acquire 100 percent of the issued and outstanding shares of AssetNation in an all cash deal valued at approximately $64 million. The transaction is expected to close on or about May 15, 2012, and is subject to customary closing conditions. The transaction will be funded mainly by bank debt and is expected to have an immaterial impact on Ritchie Bros. financial results in 2012 and 2013. Pagemill Partners acted as sole financial advisor to Ritchie Bros. and Perkins Coie LLP acted as legal advisor. AssetNation was purchased from Spire Capital Partners, a New York-based private equity firm.
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