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Ritchie Bros Auctioneers Inc
Symbol RBA
Shares Issued 106,985,954
Close 2017-05-31 C$ 41.96
Market Cap C$ 4,489,130,630
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Ritchie Bros. closes IronPlanet acquisition for $758.5M

2017-05-31 19:50 ET - News Release

Mr. Ravi Saligram reports

RITCHIE BROS. COMPLETES ITS ACQUISITION OF IRONPLANET, GROWING DIGITAL PRESENCE AND OFFERING UNPRECEDENTED CHOICE TO CUSTOMERS

Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Inc. has completed its acquisition of IronPlanet, a leading on-line marketplace for heavy equipment and other durable assets. Ritchie Bros. acquired IronPlanet for approximately $758.5-million, subject to customary closing adjustments. The acquisition was financed through a combination of Ritchie Bros.' previously announced senior note offering and secured term loan facility. The transaction is expected to be earnings accretive within the first year, excluding acquisition-related costs.

Highlights:

  • New unified multichannel company leads the industry by expanding on-line offerings, opening the door to growth in new geographies and accelerating the network effect;
  • Sales forces will be integrated to provide customers a full range of solutions;
  • All six key IronPlanet executives will join Ritchie Bros. in senior roles, complementing existing leadership team;
  • Ritchie Bros. EquipmentOne and IronPlanet's DailyMarketplace will be combined later this year to form a cutting-edge reserve price solution named Marketplace E.

The acquisition of IronPlanet accelerates Ritchie Bros.' strategy of becoming a one-stop, multichannel company where customers can buy, sell or list equipment, when, how and where they choose -- both on site and on-line. Later this year, Ritchie Bros. will combine its on-line EquipmentOne brand with the IronPlanet DailyMarketplace, creating a harmonized brand offering called Marketplace E that gives customers more ways to set reserve pricing. Ritchie Bros. also gains expanded growth capabilities in the oil and gas and government sectors.

The company will be combining the Ritchie Bros. and IronPlanet sales forces in the United States, Canada and Europe, in line with its strategy to provide customers a one-stop, multichannel experience. Territory and strategic account managers will be positioned as solution sellers and offer customers three main product offerings: RBA integrated unreserved on-site auctions, IronPlanet weekly featured auctions and Marketplace E, an IronPlanet solution. Mascus, Kruse Energy and GovPlanet will continue to remain as stand-alone businesses with stand-alone sales teams, given that they serve specialized customer segments.

As a part of this acquisition, Ritchie Bros. also enters into an initial five-year strategic alliance with Caterpillar, which is expected to strengthen its relationship with Caterpillar's independent dealers around the world by providing it enhanced and continued access to a global auction marketplace to sell its used equipment. The company also will continue to co-ordinate and manage Cat auctions in respective Cat dealer geographies.

"We are pleased that the acquisition of IronPlanet has been completed, and I am delighted to welcome IronPlanet employees to the Ritchie Bros. family. Our shared passion for serving customers is loud and clear, and it will continue to be our guiding light in the unified company," said Ravi Saligram, Ritchie Bros.' chief executive officer. "Our integration plans have been meticulously worked on during the last nine months: Our combined senior management team will be in place day one, and our sales forces will be integrated within the first 30 days. In the second half of 2017, we will focus on aligning and unifying the company, optimizing the integration, starting to achieve synergies and getting the organization ready for a fast start in 2018 to deliver growth and add shareholder value."

Mr. Saligram has designed his new organizational structure to maximize growth outcomes by utilizing the complementary skill sets of senior leaders from both companies. All leaders mentioned below report to Mr. Saligram unless otherwise mentioned.

Operational leaders:

  • Greg Owens, former chief executive officer of IronPlanet, is named group president, new sectors and ventures, and will oversee all aspects of the Cat strategic alliance, GovPlanet and Kruse Energy. He will also explore ventures to enter new sectors and businesses, both organically and through acquisitions.
  • Jim Barr, group president, multichannel products and technologies, will lead all aspects of digital product development, on-line operations and digital marketing and provide strategic oversight to the technology group.
  • Jeff Jeter, former president of IronPlanet, is named president, sales, United States, and will lead the combined field and strategic accounts sales force.
  • Brian Glenn is named senior vice-president and head of sales, Canada and will lead both Western and Eastern Canadian field sales teams.
  • Karl Werner will continue in his role as president, international, and Jeroen Rijk will continue in his role as senior vice-president and MD, Europe, with expanded responsibility for IronPlanet offerings.

Functional leaders:

  • Sharon Driscoll, chief financial officer, Todd Wohler, chief human resources officer, Darren Watt, senior vice-president and general counsel, and Doug Olive, senior vice-president, pricing and valuations, will continue in their roles with added responsibilities for the combined company.
  • Becky Alseth will assume the role of senior vice-president, brands and innovation, and focus on the evolution of all RB brands, value propositions, generating insights and leading marketing services, field marketing, and seller marketing. Importantly, she will jump-start a comprehensive innovation program throughout the company, initially focused on live auctions.
  • Doug Feick will assume the role of senior vice-president, corporate development and integration optimization. He will lead the company's merger-and-acquisition initiatives and in the near term will lead continuing integration efforts.
  • Kieran Holm, senior vice-president, operations excellence and efficiencies, will focus on the acceleration of structural cost savings and efficiencies and pro-actively optimizing the company's site network. He will also assume added responsibility as the synergies champion for the IP acquisition to ensure that synergy targets are achieved.
  • Frank Roth will assume the role of senior vice-president, sales effectiveness, and will focus on enabling the sales force to drive solution selling, create operational rigour on the use of sales analytics and sales management tools, and develop programs to drive growth and increase sales productivity.
  • Marianne Marck, chief information technology officer, reporting to Mr. Barr, will assume responsibility for leading and overseeing the technology and engineering teams across all of Ritchie Bros., including RBA, IronPlanet, Mascus, Xcira and RBFS. She will drive overall data and technology strategy to make information technology a significant competitive advantage for the company. Jeff Barca-Hall will partner with Mr. Marck as senior vice-president and chief technology officer and will lead efforts to build future-state, cutting-edge marketplace technologies and the consolidation of current platforms and offerings.
  • Matt Ackley, senior vice-president, product management and digital marketing, reporting to Mr. Barr, will be responsible for on-line demand generation, buyer product marketing, product management, inside sales and on-line auction management.
  • Randy Berry, senior vice-president, digital operations, reporting to Mr. Barr, will continue to lead IP inspections, operations and asset appraisal services, and assume responsibility for RBA on-line operations and the customer service group.

Ritchie Bros. will maintain its global headquarters and technology presence in Vancouver, B.C., and confirmed that Pleasanton, Calif., IronPlanet's headquarters, will also be one of its key technology hubs. The company will optimize its U.S. office network over the next few years and establish a small commercial hub in the western suburbs of Chicago in the fall of 2017.

  • Ritchie Bros. and IronPlanet first announced the acquisition in August, 2016.
  • Ritchie Bros. and IronPlanet announced unconditional antitrust clearance from the U.S. Department of Justice on May 18, 2017.

About Ritchie Bros. Auctioneeers Inc.

Established in 1958, Ritchie Bros. is a global asset management and disposition company, offering customers end-to-end solutions for buying and selling used heavy equipment, trucks and other assets. Operating in a multitude of sectors, including construction, transportation, agriculture, energy, oil and gas, mining, and forestry, the company's selling channels include: Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers, the world's largest industrial auctioneer, offers live auction events with on-line bidding; IronPlanet, an on-line marketplace with featured weekly auctions and providing its exclusive IronClad Assurance equipment condition certification; EquipmentOne, an on-line auction marketplace; Mascus, a leading European on-line equipment listing service; and Ritchie Bros. Private Treaty, offering privately negotiated sales. The company also offers sector-specific solutions including GovPlanet, TruckPlanet and Kruse Energy Auctioneers, plus equipment financing and leasing through Ritchie Bros. Financial Services.

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