Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers
Encyclopedia
Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers is an industrial
auctioneer. The company has 110 locations in 25 countries and 43 auction sites worldwide. The company 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.
Ritchie Bros. is a public company. Its common shares are traded on the New York
and Toronto stock exchanges under the ticker symbol RBA.
, Canada
. The three Ritchie brothers – Ken, John and Dave Ritchie – took over the OK Used Furniture Store from their father in 1955. They entered the auction business in 1958 when they needed CA$2,000 to pay a bank debt on short notice. A friend suggested they conduct an auction to get rid of some surplus inventory from the furniture store. They conducted their first auction at the Scout Hall in Kelowna in 1958 and discovered a new way of doing business.
Starting with that first auction at the Scout Hall, Ritchie Bros. maintained a strict policy of conducting unreserved auctions – meaning there were no minimum bids and no reserve prices. The brothers also established a policy of not allowing bid-ins or buybacks by the sellers.
The brothers began conducting auctions more regularly and in 1958 incorporated Ritchie Bros. Auction Galleries Ltd. to formalize their new business. Ritchie Bros. began selling used equipment in the 1960s. In 1963 Dave Ritchie moved to Vancouver, B.C.
and rented an auction site on S.E. Marine Drive. He set up the company's first equipment auction in Vancouver shortly after.
The Ritchie brothers conducted their first major unreserved industrial auction in Radium Hot Springs, British Columbia
on June 7, 1963. They sold CA$663,000 of equipment in one day – by far the largest auction in the company's history.
The success of the Radium Hot Springs auction convinced the brothers that they could make more money auctioning used equipment than selling furniture, so they sold their furniture store in Kelowna and went into the auction business full-time.
Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers established one of the trademarks of its auctions at the Radium Hot Springs auction. It was raining on the day of the auction. Instead of making the bidders walk around in the rain during the auction, they set up the auction under the eaves of a nearby shop and drove the equipment in to be sold piece by piece. The crowd stayed dry and the ramp-and-stage method became a fixture at Ritchie Bros. auctions thereafter.
. Ritchie Bros. began expanding into other parts of Canada
in the mid-1960s, conducting its first auctions in Alberta
(in 1964), the Yukon
(1964), Saskatchewan
(1965), Manitoba
(1968), and other parts of Eastern Canada
shortly thereafter.
In 1965, Ken Ritchie left the company to spend more time with his family and the company’s name was changed from Ritchie Bros. Auction Galleries Ltd. to Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Ltd. Ken established his own auction company, but returned to work with his brothers in 1968. He stayed with Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers until 1980.
In 1968, Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers held its first auction with gross proceeds in excess of CA$1 million, in Edmonton
, Alberta, Canada. Edmonton was also the site of the company’s first permanent auction site (on company-owned land), which was established in 1976. Until then, Ritchie Bros. had been conducting its auctions on leased land.
, and gradually began expanding throughout the United States.
In 1974, John Ritchie left the company, selling his share of the business to his brother Dave. In 1975, Dave Ritchie – the sole company shareholder – decided to sell partnerships in Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers to some of his key employees: Dick Bartel, C. Russell (“Russ”) Cmolik, Ken Ritchie, and Bill Gronberg. Over the coming years, the partnership expanded to include Bob Carswell, Marvin Chantler, Ed Banser, Roger Rummel, Bob Brawley, Ken Asbury, John Wild, Marty Pope, Mark Clarke, Don Chalmers, Sylvain Touchette, Frank McFadden, and Mike Ritchie. When Ritchie Bros. went public in 1998, Ken Ritchie and Bill Gronberg no longer owned shares in the company.
By 1985, Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers had sold more than US$1 billion of equipment through unreserved auctions. It took only three more years for the company to gross another US$1 billion in sales.
in 1987, in Liverpool
, the U.K., and Rotterdam
, the Netherlands. The equipment sold at the Liverpool auction had been used to rebuild the Falklands Islands following the war there. Further international expansion followed with the company's first auctions in Australia
(1990), Mexico
(1995), the Middle East
(1997), and Africa
(2003).
In 1991, the company achieved another milestone when it conducted its 1,000th unreserved auction. It conducted its 2,000th auction in the year 2000.
in 1993 and 1995, followed in 1997 by a three-way videoconferenced auction that linked separate auction sites in St. Paul, Minnesota; Kansas City, Missouri
; and Clinton, Wisconsin
. Equipment was located at all three sites, and interested buyers could bid at any of the sites, which were linked via video.
The company launched its website, rbauction.com, at the ConExpo trade show in Las Vegas, Nevada
, USA in 1996. The site featured a searchable database that enabled customers to see all of the equipment being sold in upcoming Ritchie Bros. auctions.
In March 1999, Ritchie Bros. broadcast an auction over the Internet for the first time. In March 2002, Ritchie Bros. introduced its real-time Internet bidding service, rbauctionBid-Live.
On September 22, 2008, Ritchie Bros. launched a comprehensive online resource tool for the construction, mining, transportation, agricultural and forestry industries at MINExpo International
in Las Vegas. The tool is called RitchieWiki and is associated with an equipment specification engine called RitchieSpecs.
under the symbol RBA in March 1998, followed by listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange
in April 2004.
(in 1979); Prince George, B.C.
(1980); Denver, Colorado
(1985) – the first site in the U.S.; Phoenix, Arizona
(1987); Toronto
, Ontario
(1988); Tampa, Florida
(1995); Atlanta, Georgia
(1996); Minneapolis, Minnesota
(1991); Houston, Texas
(1993); Fort Worth, Texas
(1994); Olympia, Washington
(1994); and Halifax, Nova Scotia (1997).
Since then, Ritchie Bros. has added auction sites in eight other countries. The company now has 40 auction sites in 10 countries worldwide: Moerdijk
, Netherlands
; Brisbane, Australia; Albuquerque, New Mexico
; Statesville, North Carolina
; Montreal
, Quebec
; Chicago
, Illinois
; North East, Maryland
; Grande Prairie, Alberta
; Orlando, Florida
; Sacramento, California
; Saskatoon
, Saskatchewan
; Buxton, North Dakota
; Nashville, Tennessee
; Columbus, Ohio
; Kansas City, Missouri
; Saint Aubin sur Gaillon, France; London, Ontario
; Ocana, Spain
; Polotitlan, Mexico; Moncofa, Spain; Caorso
, Italy
; Dubai
, United Arab Emirates
; Geelong, Australia; Hartford, Connecticut
; and Las Vegas, Nevada
. The company intends to add two or three new auction sites each year to this network.
following the acquisition. Ritchie Bros. made its foray into the agricultural equipment auction business with the acquisitions of All Peace Auctions of Grande Prairie, Alberta
, Canada in 2002; LeBlanc Auction Service of Estevan, Saskatchewan
, Canada in 2004; Dennis Biliske Auctioneers of Buxton, North Dakota
, USA in 2006; and Clarke Auctioneers of Rouleau, Saskatchewan
, Canada in 2007.
in Alaska
(1990) and the equipment used to build the Confederation Bridge
that links the province of Prince Edward Island
with the Canadian mainland (1997).
in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In 2008 Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Inc. conducted 340 unreserved industrial and agricultural auctions generating gross auction proceeds of US$3.57 billion. The company sold more than 253,000 lots from 37,000 consignments and processed 277,000 bidder registrations. Of those, 84,000 were successful buyers with a total of 16,000 buyers purchasing their equipment online.
Ritchie Bros. also conducted the largest auction in company history in February 2008. The five-day auction at the company’s auction site in Orlando, Florida
featured 6,200 lots, generated in excess of US$190 million in gross auction proceeds and attracted over 6,000 registered bidders from 71 different countries.
Last year Ritchie Bros. opened up five new or replacement permanent auction facilities in Minneapolis, Minnesota
; Houston, Texas
; London, Ontario
; Grande Prairie, Alberta
; and Mexico City, Mexico.
On April 20, 2010 Ritchie Bros. launched its new 21-language web site (rbauction.com) at BAUMA 2010 in Munich, Germany.
Industry
Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...
auctioneer. The company has 110 locations in 25 countries and 43 auction sites worldwide. The company sells through unreserved public auctions a broad range of used and unused industrial assets, including equipment, trucks and other assets utilized in the construction
Construction
In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...
, transportation, agricultural, material handling
Material handling
-Material Handling Industry:Material Handling is the movement, storage, control and protection of materials, goods and products throughout the process of manufacturing, distribution, consumption and disposal. The focus is on the methods, mechanical equipment, systems and related controls used to...
, mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
, forestry
Forestry
Forestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...
, petroleum
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
, and marine
Marine (ocean)
Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology...
industries.
Ritchie Bros. is a public company. Its common shares are traded on the New York
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at 13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010...
and Toronto stock exchanges under the ticker symbol RBA.
The Ritchie Brothers
Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers was established in Kelowna, B.C.Kelowna
Kelowna is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan Valley, in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. Its name derives from a Okanagan language term for "grizzly bear"...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. The three Ritchie brothers – Ken, John and Dave Ritchie – took over the OK Used Furniture Store from their father in 1955. They entered the auction business in 1958 when they needed CA$2,000 to pay a bank debt on short notice. A friend suggested they conduct an auction to get rid of some surplus inventory from the furniture store. They conducted their first auction at the Scout Hall in Kelowna in 1958 and discovered a new way of doing business.
Starting with that first auction at the Scout Hall, Ritchie Bros. maintained a strict policy of conducting unreserved auctions – meaning there were no minimum bids and no reserve prices. The brothers also established a policy of not allowing bid-ins or buybacks by the sellers.
The brothers began conducting auctions more regularly and in 1958 incorporated Ritchie Bros. Auction Galleries Ltd. to formalize their new business. Ritchie Bros. began selling used equipment in the 1960s. In 1963 Dave Ritchie moved to Vancouver, B.C.
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
and rented an auction site on S.E. Marine Drive. He set up the company's first equipment auction in Vancouver shortly after.
The Ritchie brothers conducted their first major unreserved industrial auction in Radium Hot Springs, British Columbia
Radium Hot Springs, British Columbia
Radium Hot Springs is a village of approximately 800 people situated in the East Kootenay region of British Columbia. The village is named for the hot springs located in the nearby Kootenay National Park...
on June 7, 1963. They sold CA$663,000 of equipment in one day – by far the largest auction in the company's history.
The success of the Radium Hot Springs auction convinced the brothers that they could make more money auctioning used equipment than selling furniture, so they sold their furniture store in Kelowna and went into the auction business full-time.
Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers established one of the trademarks of its auctions at the Radium Hot Springs auction. It was raining on the day of the auction. Instead of making the bidders walk around in the rain during the auction, they set up the auction under the eaves of a nearby shop and drove the equipment in to be sold piece by piece. The crowd stayed dry and the ramp-and-stage method became a fixture at Ritchie Bros. auctions thereafter.
The early auction years
Most of the company's earliest auctions were held in British ColumbiaBritish Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
. Ritchie Bros. began expanding into other parts of Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in the mid-1960s, conducting its first auctions in Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
(in 1964), the Yukon
Yukon
Yukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River. The word Yukon means "Great River" in Gwich’in....
(1964), Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
(1965), Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
(1968), and other parts of Eastern Canada
Eastern Canada
Eastern Canada is generally considered to be the region of Canada east of Manitoba, consisting of the following provinces:* New Brunswick* Newfoundland and Labrador* Nova Scotia* Ontario* Prince Edward Island* Quebec...
shortly thereafter.
In 1965, Ken Ritchie left the company to spend more time with his family and the company’s name was changed from Ritchie Bros. Auction Galleries Ltd. to Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Ltd. Ken established his own auction company, but returned to work with his brothers in 1968. He stayed with Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers until 1980.
In 1968, Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers held its first auction with gross proceeds in excess of CA$1 million, in Edmonton
Edmonton
Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...
, Alberta, Canada. Edmonton was also the site of the company’s first permanent auction site (on company-owned land), which was established in 1976. Until then, Ritchie Bros. had been conducting its auctions on leased land.
Expansion in the U.S.
Ritchie Bros. established its first presence outside Canada in 1969 when it became incorporated in Washington, USA. The company held its first auction outside Canada in 1970, in Beaverton, OregonBeaverton, Oregon
Beaverton is a city in Washington County, Oregon, United States, seven miles west of Portland in the Tualatin River Valley.As of the 2010 census, the population is 90,267. This makes it the second-largest city in the county and Oregon's sixth-largest city...
, and gradually began expanding throughout the United States.
In 1974, John Ritchie left the company, selling his share of the business to his brother Dave. In 1975, Dave Ritchie – the sole company shareholder – decided to sell partnerships in Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers to some of his key employees: Dick Bartel, C. Russell (“Russ”) Cmolik, Ken Ritchie, and Bill Gronberg. Over the coming years, the partnership expanded to include Bob Carswell, Marvin Chantler, Ed Banser, Roger Rummel, Bob Brawley, Ken Asbury, John Wild, Marty Pope, Mark Clarke, Don Chalmers, Sylvain Touchette, Frank McFadden, and Mike Ritchie. When Ritchie Bros. went public in 1998, Ken Ritchie and Bill Gronberg no longer owned shares in the company.
By 1985, Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers had sold more than US$1 billion of equipment through unreserved auctions. It took only three more years for the company to gross another US$1 billion in sales.
International expansion
In the late 1980s Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers began to look overseas for further growth opportunities. The company conducted its first auctions outside North AmericaNorth America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
in 1987, in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, the U.K., and Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
, the Netherlands. The equipment sold at the Liverpool auction had been used to rebuild the Falklands Islands following the war there. Further international expansion followed with the company's first auctions in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
(1990), Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
(1995), the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
(1997), and Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
(2003).
In 1991, the company achieved another milestone when it conducted its 1,000th unreserved auction. It conducted its 2,000th auction in the year 2000.
The role of technology
In 1989, Ritchie Bros. became the first industrial auction company to enable remote bidding via video when it broadcast its Edmonton auction live at the Agricom trade show in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Video simulcasts were held at trade showsTrade fair
A trade fair is an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest products, service, study activities of rivals and examine recent market trends and opportunities...
in 1993 and 1995, followed in 1997 by a three-way videoconferenced auction that linked separate auction sites in St. Paul, Minnesota; Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
; and Clinton, Wisconsin
Clinton, Wisconsin
Clinton is a village in Rock County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 2,162 at the 2000 census . The village is located within the town of Clinton...
. Equipment was located at all three sites, and interested buyers could bid at any of the sites, which were linked via video.
The company launched its website, rbauction.com, at the ConExpo trade show in Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
, USA in 1996. The site featured a searchable database that enabled customers to see all of the equipment being sold in upcoming Ritchie Bros. auctions.
In March 1999, Ritchie Bros. broadcast an auction over the Internet for the first time. In March 2002, Ritchie Bros. introduced its real-time Internet bidding service, rbauctionBid-Live.
On September 22, 2008, Ritchie Bros. launched a comprehensive online resource tool for the construction, mining, transportation, agricultural and forestry industries at MINExpo International
MinExpo International
MinExpo International is a trade show sponsored by the National Mining Association. The show exhibits the latest mining and minerals processing technologies, and state-of-the-art machinery and equipment for the coal, metal and nonmetal mining processing industries...
in Las Vegas. The tool is called RitchieWiki and is associated with an equipment specification engine called RitchieSpecs.
Going public
In 1998, the year that Ritchie Bros. went public, the company’s annual gross auction proceeds exceeded US$1 billion for the first time ever. Its common shares were listed on the New York Stock ExchangeNew York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at 13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010...
under the symbol RBA in March 1998, followed by listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange
Toronto Stock Exchange
Toronto Stock Exchange is the largest stock exchange in Canada, the third largest in North America and the seventh largest in the world by market capitalisation. Based in Canada's largest city, Toronto, it is owned by and operated as a subsidiary of the TMX Group for the trading of senior equities...
in April 2004.
Network of auction sites
Investing in permanent auction sites has been a company priority since the 1970s. Ritchie Bros. opened its first permanent auction site in Nisku (Edmonton), Alberta, Canada in 1976. Before going public in 1998, the company opened additional permanent auction sites in Vancouver, B.C.Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
(in 1979); Prince George, B.C.
Prince George, British Columbia
Prince George, with a population of 71,030 , is the largest city in northern British Columbia, Canada, and is known as "BC's Northern Capital"...
(1980); Denver, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
(1985) – the first site in the U.S.; Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
(1987); Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
(1988); Tampa, Florida
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
(1995); Atlanta, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
(1996); Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
(1991); Houston, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
(1993); Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
(1994); Olympia, Washington
Olympia, Washington
Olympia is the capital city of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat of Thurston County. It was incorporated on January 28, 1859. The population was 46,478 at the 2010 census...
(1994); and Halifax, Nova Scotia (1997).
Since then, Ritchie Bros. has added auction sites in eight other countries. The company now has 40 auction sites in 10 countries worldwide: Moerdijk
Moerdijk
Moerdijk is a municipality and a town in the South of the Netherlands, in the province of North Brabant.- History :The municipality of Moerdijk was founded in 1997 following the merger of the municipalities of Fijnaart en Heijningen, Klundert, Standdaarbuiten, Willemstad and Zevenbergen. At that...
, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
; Brisbane, Australia; Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...
; Statesville, North Carolina
Statesville, North Carolina
Statesville is a city located in Iredell County, North Carolina, United States and was named an All-America City in 1997 and 2009. The population was 24,633 at the 2010 census...
; Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
; Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
; North East, Maryland
North East, Maryland
North East is a town in Cecil County, Maryland, United States. The population was 2,733 at the 2000 census.-History:The Turkey Point Light Station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002...
; Grande Prairie, Alberta
Grande Prairie, Alberta
Grande Prairie is a city in the northwestern part of the province of Alberta in Western Canada. It is located on the southern edge of the Peace River Country . The city is surrounded by the County of Grande Prairie No...
; Orlando, Florida
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
; Sacramento, California
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
; Saskatoon
Saskatoon
Saskatoon is a city in central Saskatchewan, Canada, on the South Saskatchewan River. Residents of the city of Saskatoon are called Saskatonians. The city is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Corman Park No. 344....
, Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
; Buxton, North Dakota
Buxton, North Dakota
As of the 2000 Census, there were 350 people, 133 households, and 96 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,735.1 people per square mile . There were 141 housing units at an average density of 699.0 per square mile . The racial makeup of the city was 98.00% White, 0.29% Asian,...
; Nashville, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
; Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
; Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
; Saint Aubin sur Gaillon, France; London, Ontario
London, Ontario
London is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, situated along the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. The city has a population of 352,395, and the metropolitan area has a population of 457,720, according to the 2006 Canadian census; the metro population in 2009 was estimated at 489,274. The city...
; Ocana, Spain
Ocaña, Spain
Ocaña, a town and municipality of central Spain, in the province of Toledo. It is located on the extreme north of the tableland known as the Mesa de Ocaña, and has a station on the railway from Aranjuez to Cuenca.-History:...
; Polotitlan, Mexico; Moncofa, Spain; Caorso
Caorso
Caorso is a comune in the Province of Piacenza in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about 130 km northwest of Bologna and about 13 km east of Piacenza...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
; Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
, United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
; Geelong, Australia; Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...
; and Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
. The company intends to add two or three new auction sites each year to this network.
Acquisitions
In 1999, Ritchie Bros. acquired Forke Brothers, an equipment auction company based in Nebraska, USA and one of its major competitors. The company moved its U.S. headquarters to Lincoln, NebraskaLincoln, Nebraska
The City of Lincoln is the capital and the second-most populous city of the US state of Nebraska. Lincoln is also the county seat of Lancaster County and the home of the University of Nebraska. Lincoln's 2010 Census population was 258,379....
following the acquisition. Ritchie Bros. made its foray into the agricultural equipment auction business with the acquisitions of All Peace Auctions of Grande Prairie, Alberta
Grande Prairie, Alberta
Grande Prairie is a city in the northwestern part of the province of Alberta in Western Canada. It is located on the southern edge of the Peace River Country . The city is surrounded by the County of Grande Prairie No...
, Canada in 2002; LeBlanc Auction Service of Estevan, Saskatchewan
Estevan, Saskatchewan
Estevan is the eighth largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. It is located at , which is near the southeastern corner of the province. The Souris River runs by the city. The city is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Estevan No. 5.-History:...
, Canada in 2004; Dennis Biliske Auctioneers of Buxton, North Dakota
Buxton, North Dakota
As of the 2000 Census, there were 350 people, 133 households, and 96 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,735.1 people per square mile . There were 141 housing units at an average density of 699.0 per square mile . The racial makeup of the city was 98.00% White, 0.29% Asian,...
, USA in 2006; and Clarke Auctioneers of Rouleau, Saskatchewan
Rouleau, Saskatchewan
-Location:-External links:*** Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan...
, Canada in 2007.
Notable auctions
Among the notable auctions conducted by Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers: construction and other equipment used to rebuild the airport, shipyard and other facilities after the Falkland Islands war (1987); almost 9,800 items and pieces of equipment used in the US$1 billion cleanup operation following the Exxon Valdez oil spillExxon Valdez oil spill
The Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred in Prince William Sound, Alaska, on March 24, 1989, when the Exxon Valdez, an oil tanker bound for Long Beach, California, struck Prince William Sound's Bligh Reef and spilled of crude oil. It is considered to be one of the most devastating human-caused...
in Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
(1990) and the equipment used to build the Confederation Bridge
Confederation Bridge
The Confederation Bridge is a bridge spanning the Abegweit Passage of Northumberland Strait, linking Prince Edward Island with mainland New Brunswick, Canada. It was commonly referred to as the "Fixed Link" by residents of Prince Edward Island prior to its official naming. Construction took place...
that links the province of Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...
with the Canadian mainland (1997).
50th Anniversary
Ritchie Bros. celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2008. As a gift to the heavy equipment industries it launched RitchieWiki in September 2008 at MINExpo InternationalMinExpo International
MinExpo International is a trade show sponsored by the National Mining Association. The show exhibits the latest mining and minerals processing technologies, and state-of-the-art machinery and equipment for the coal, metal and nonmetal mining processing industries...
in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In 2008 Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Inc. conducted 340 unreserved industrial and agricultural auctions generating gross auction proceeds of US$3.57 billion. The company sold more than 253,000 lots from 37,000 consignments and processed 277,000 bidder registrations. Of those, 84,000 were successful buyers with a total of 16,000 buyers purchasing their equipment online.
Ritchie Bros. also conducted the largest auction in company history in February 2008. The five-day auction at the company’s auction site in Orlando, Florida
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
featured 6,200 lots, generated in excess of US$190 million in gross auction proceeds and attracted over 6,000 registered bidders from 71 different countries.
The Company Today
In 2009 Ritchie Bros. sold US$3.5 billion of equipment at 327 unreserved auctions worldwide, including nearly $830 million sold to online bidders.Last year Ritchie Bros. opened up five new or replacement permanent auction facilities in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
; Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
; London, Ontario
London, Ontario
London is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, situated along the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. The city has a population of 352,395, and the metropolitan area has a population of 457,720, according to the 2006 Canadian census; the metro population in 2009 was estimated at 489,274. The city...
; Grande Prairie, Alberta
Grande Prairie, Alberta
Grande Prairie is a city in the northwestern part of the province of Alberta in Western Canada. It is located on the southern edge of the Peace River Country . The city is surrounded by the County of Grande Prairie No...
; and Mexico City, Mexico.
On April 20, 2010 Ritchie Bros. launched its new 21-language web site (rbauction.com) at BAUMA 2010 in Munich, Germany.
| |
Year ended December 31, 2009 |
Year ended December 31, 2008 |
| Number of industrial auctions |
195 |
193 |
| Bidder registrations |
336,000 |
277,000 |
| Buyers |
98,000 |
84,000 |
| Consignments |
37,000 |
37,000 |
| Lots |
283,000 |
253,000 |
| |
Year ended December 31, 2009 |
Year ended December 31, 2008 |
| Gross auction proceeds |
$17.3 million |
$17.7 million |
| Registered bidders |
1,720 |
1,430 |
| Consignors |
190 |
190 |
| Lots |
1,450 |
1,300 |
Gross auction proceeds records broken in 2009
- Moncofa, Spain – 33 million Euros ($43 million): the largest Spanish auction in company history (March 11 – 13)
- MontrealMontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, QuebecQuebecQuebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
– CA$31 million ($25 million) (March 12 & 13) - Houston, TexasTexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
– $66 million (March 25 – 27) - EdmontonEdmontonEdmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...
, AlbertaAlbertaAlberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
– CA$93 million ($79 million): the largest Canadian auction in company history (April 28 – 30). Ritchie Bros.’ Edmonton site sold CA$392 million ($344 million) of equipment in 2009: the highest annual gross auction proceeds of any site in company history. - DubaiDubaiDubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
, United Arab EmiratesUnited Arab EmiratesThe United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
– $46 million: the largest Middle Eastern auction in company history (June 1 – 3) - Denver, ColoradoColoradoColorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
– $35 million (June 4 & 5) - CaorsoCaorsoCaorso is a comune in the Province of Piacenza in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about 130 km northwest of Bologna and about 13 km east of Piacenza...
, ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
– the largest Italian auction in company history (June 11 & 12) - ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
– the largest French auction in company history (June 25 & 26) - London, OntarioLondon, OntarioLondon is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, situated along the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. The city has a population of 352,395, and the metropolitan area has a population of 457,720, according to the 2006 Canadian census; the metro population in 2009 was estimated at 489,274. The city...
– new regional record (September 18) - Fort Worth, TexasFort Worth, TexasFort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
– $66 million (September 23 – 25) - MadridMadridMadrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
– new regional record (October 23)
Management
- CEO: Peter J. Blake
- President: Robert (Rob) Mackay
- COO: Robert (Bob) S. Armstrong
- CFO: Rob McLeod
- Senior VP - Human Resources & Administration: Victor (Vic) Pospiech
- Senior VP - National Accounts & Transportation: Robert (Rob) Whitsit
- Senior VP - Canada & Agriculture: Kevin Tink
- Senior VP - U.S. West: Steven (Steve) Simpson
- Senior VP - U.S. East: Curtis (Curt) Hinkelman
- Senior VP - U.S. Central, Mexico, Central & South America: David (Nick) Nicholson
- Senior VP - Europe, Middle East, India & China: Guylain Turgeon
Board of Directors
- Chairman: Robert (Bob) W. Murdoch
- Peter J. Blake
- Beverley A. Briscoe
- Eric Patel
- Edward B. Pitoniak
- Christopher Zimmerman
- James Micali