The parent company of Canadian auction house Ritchie Bros. is further expanding its reach into the U.S. online farm equipment, farmland and livestock auction markets with a deal for BigIron Auction Co.
RB Global Inc. announced last Wednesday (March 4) it will buy Nebraska-based BigIron for an undisclosed sum, expecting to close the deal in the second half of this year.
BigIron, whose roots in the auction business date back to 1984, is now billed as “a scaled, agriculture-focused online marketplace connecting buyers and sellers of agricultural equipment, land, livestock, and other farm and ranch assets.”
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According to RB Global, BigIron processed about $885 million in gross transaction value in the 12 months ending last Sept. 30, including about $520 million worth of farm assets and vehicles and about $365 million in farmland and real estate transactions (all figures US$).
“BigIron brings a talented team with deep ag sector knowledge and an established sales footprint that will continue operating as a stand-alone brand while being complemented by the Ritchie Bros. industrial footprint,” RB Global CEO Jim Kessler said in a release. “This will create opportunities to serve even more customers through a combination of onsite, offsite, and digital channels and solutions.”
BigIron co-founder Ron Stock noted BigIron will remain a stand-alone operation within RB Global, with he and co-founder Mark Stock “involved in the business as usual.”
“Through this combination, we gain a larger platform and additional resources, which is expected to help us deliver even greater choice and liquidity to all the sellers we serve,” Mark Stock said in the same release.
RB Global dates back to the founding of Ritchie Bros. in Kelowna in 1958, from which it expanded its services into the U.S. and overseas and bought several Canadian and U.S. auction firms, becoming publicly traded in 1998. Its corporate headquarters has since moved to the Chicago area.
In its last fiscal year ending Dec. 31, RB Global booked $412.8 million in net income on total revenue of $4.28 billion, handling a gross transaction value of $15.9 billion.
