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Quick Facts About Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers
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 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.
- ESTABLISHED: 1958 in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. First unreserved auction: 1958. First unreserved industrial auction: 1963.
- 2007 BUSINESS STATISTICS: Gross auction proceeds in excess of US$3.18 billion; more than 350 unreserved industrial and agricultural auctions; more than 254,000 bidder registrations; over 80,000 buyers; nearly 35,000 consignments; and over 261,000 lots.
- UNRESERVED AUCTIONS: Ritchie Bros. conducts unreserved auctions exclusively. Unreserved means there are no minimum bids or reserve prices. Everything sells to the highest bidder on auction day, regardless of price. At Ritchie Bros. auctions, owners are also forbidden by contract from bidding on their own equipment, so only legitimate bidders are able to raise the price. Customers bid in confidence knowing that there is no artificial price manipulation. Ritchie Bros.’ commitment to the unreserved auction method has played a large part in the Company’s success.
- LOCATIONS: Ritchie Bros. has over 110 locations, including 38 auction sites. Even with sale sites located around the world, people are still willing to travel great distances to purchase specific equipment to meet their needs. This means that Ritchie Bros. auctions can transcend local market conditions and deliver world market prices.
- EMPLOYEES: Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers employs close to 950 full-time employees around the world.
- THE RAMP AUCTION METHOD: Ritchie Bros. auctions are known for the ramp method, where customers are able to sit in a covered auction theater while the mobile equipment is driven over the ramp. Once the bidding is started by the crowd, the sale price increases until there are no new bids. The high bidder then holds up his number to identify himself as the successful buyer and the process begins all over again with the next unit being driven onto the ramp.
- EXPANSION PLANS: Ritchie Bros. continues expanding its global operations by adding auction facilities to its network of sites. Upgrades to existing sites are also planned, as well as the addition of sales offices and regional auction units.
- RBAUCTION.COM: The Ritchie Bros. web site serves as an extension of the business. Customers can search the current auction inventory and auction results from the past 24 months, place online consignments and bids, view internet broadcasts of most auctions and find contact information for their local offices and representatives. Investors can also find the latest corporate information, including annual reports and press releases.
- LIVE INTERNET BIDDING: The rbauctionBid-Live online bidding service allows pre-qualified bidders to participate in Ritchie Bros. auctions, live and in real time. In 2007, the service accounted for over US$600 million worth of purchases. Over 77,000 Ritchie Bros. customers from 170 countries are registered to use the service.
- LARGEST AUCTION TO DATE: Ritchie Bros. conducted the largest auction in company history in February 2008. The five-day unreserved auction, held at the Company's permanent auction site in Orlando, Florida, featured almost 6,200 lots and generated gross auction proceeds in excess of US$190 million. The auction attracted more than 6,000 registered bidders from 71 countries, including all 50 U.S. states and every Canadian province and territory.
- RITCHIEWIKI: Launched in 2008 and sponsored by Ritchie Bros. to commemorate the Company’s 50th anniversary, RitchieWiki is a collaborative web site that uses wiki technology for the sharing of information about heavy equipment. Located at www.RitchieWiki.com, the free public web site features more than 500 reference quality articles about equipment, including companies, people, uses, projects and history. Anyone can read, add to or edit the information on RitchieWiki. The site is supplemented by an equipment specifications tool with information for more than 9,200 machines.
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