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VANCOUVER,
BRITISH COLUMBIA -- Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers, the world's
leading auctioneer of industrial equipment, announces the
results of its first auction sale and live Internet auction
broadcast of the year.
The
two day auction held on February 16 and 17, 2000 in Ocala,
Florida generated Gross Auction Proceeds exceeding US$35 million,
making it the Company's largest ever auction in the state
of Florida. The Company also used this sale to launch its
plans to broadcast auctions over the Internet.
One
thousand five hundred seventy (1570) registered bidders
attended the sale from forty-seven (47) states, ten (10)
Canadian provinces and twenty-five (25) other countries
including numerous European and Latin American countries.
One thousand one hundred fifty-four (1154) items were sold
over the course of the two-day sale and bidders from outside
the state of Florida made 85% of the purchases. "Because
our auctions are unreserved, bidders travel from around
the world to participate," says Dave Ritchie, Chairman and
CEO of Ritchie Bros. "By selling on an 'unreserved' or 'absolute'
basis, we are able to transcend local market conditions
and provide a global marketplace for industrial equipment.
And live Internet broadcasts allow us to reach even more
people."
"This
was an excellent sale to kick off the New Year," says Bob
Leavy, Regional Manager for Ritchie Bros. "There was an
exceptional turnout of bidders from all over the world,
especially Latin America, and the bidding was strong throughout
the day. We are looking forward to expanding our presence
in the Florida marketplace and an auction like this lets
us show our customers, whether they are buying or selling,
exactly what we can do for them."
The
live Internet broadcast attracted thousands of people to
the Ritchie Bros. website at www.rbauction.com. Customers
were able to watch a live video feed of the auction and
follow the selling prices. According to Ritchie, "We are
broadcasting auctions for three reasons: (1) to introduce
more people to our unreserved auctions, (2) to allow absentee
bidders to monitor their bids, and (3) to prepare our customers
for the live real-time bidding services we are in the process
of developing." The next Ritchie Bros. live auction broadcasts
are scheduled for March 14 & 15 in Ft. Worth, TX and March
21 in Chicago, IL.
The
equipment in the Ocala, FL sale came from numerous consignors
including Ring Power Corporation; Ringhaver Equipment Company;
Kelly Tractor; Middlesex Company; Community Asphalt; Southeastern
Crane; Graham Brothers Construction, Case Credit Corporation;
The Hardaway Co's; Cone & Graham; Walsh Contracting and
other owners. Featured equipment included wheel loaders,
forklifts, motor graders, crawler tractors, hydraulic excavators,
loader backhoes, truck tractors, lowboys, cranes, telescopic
forklifts and trucks.
"There
was a strong market for most of the equipment," says Leavy.
"A 1993 Krupp KMK5150 120 Metric Ton Hydraulic Truck Crane
sold for US $480,000. The prices for articulated dump trucks
were also strong."
Dave
Ritchie adds, "We had assembled a great selection of equipment
for the bidders to choose from; but you need more than great
equipment to attract bidders to an auction sale. We attract
such a large number of bidders from around the world because
of our commitment to the unreserved auction process. Knowing
that there are no minimum set prices and no owner buybacks,
our customers are confident that they will get a fair deal
when they buy equipment at one of our auctions. They know
they are paying the fair market value. At Ritchie Bros.,
'unreserved' also means there are no games being played
- the owner isn't allowed to bid, the auctioneer isn't allowed
to bid - all equipment sells to the high bidder on sale
day."
Ritchie
Bros. is the world's leading auctioneer of industrial equipment,
operating through over 70 locations throughout North and
Central America, Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa and the
Middle East. The Company sells, through unreserved public
auctions, a broad range of used industrial equipment including
equipment utilized in the construction, transportation,
mining, forestry, petroleum and agricultural industries.
Ritchie Bros. is a public company; its common shares trade
on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol RBA.
It maintains a web site at www.rbauction.com
Certain
statements contained in this Press Release are forward-looking
statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There are
many factors that could affect the Company's actual results
and could cause such results to differ materially from those
expressed in the Company's forward-looking statements, including
the risks and uncertainties as detailed in the Company's
SEC filings. Forward-looking statements should be considered
in light of these factors.
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