Euro Auctions billion dollar deal called off

THE record-breaking billion dollar deal between Euro Auctions and the Canadian asset management superpower has been called off by a watchdog to prevent the creation of a monopoly.

Euro Auctions, the Tyrone-born multi-national company, was due to be bought over by Candian gargantuan, Ritchie Bros, for the sum of £775m.

However, doubt was cast over whether the deal would go ahead last month, when the UK competition watchdog, the ‘Competition and Market Authority’ (CMA), launched an investigation into the into the billion dollar bargain.

In a statement released on Friday evening, Euro Auctions indicated that the deal was doomed, stating that, “Ritchie Bros believes there is no realistic prospect for approval by the CMA.”

They continued, “On August 8, 2021, Euro Auctions and Ritchie Bros announced a transaction to combine the two leading heavy equipment auctioneering companies globally.”

However, they went on to say that recently the CMA announced that the merger had been referred to a Phase II investigation into its impact on the UK’s competitive landscape, leading Ritchie Bros to make the decision not to proceed with deal.

“As a result,” they said, “The anticipated transaction between Euro Auctions and Ritchie Bros will not be concluded.”

This decision by the CMA has prevented a monopoly, which would have seen more than 90 per-cent of the UK market for construction machinery auctioneering brought under the ownership of the Canadian kingpins.

This means Euro Auctions, founded in 1998 by the Keys brothers, will remain an Irish-owned company with bases across the world.

In 2020, Euro Auctions revenues rose by one per-cent, to £145.6m, while pre-tax profits rocketed by 14 per-cent to £28.7m.

In the same year, they conducted 60 mega-auctions, flogging 90,000 items to the tune of £484 million across its nine locations, including here in Tyrone.

Remarking on the scuppered deal, they said, “The Euro Auctions business remains the leading auction brand in Europe, and the strong trading performance has continued in 2022 with hammer values in recent auctions, surpassing impressive 2021 levels.

“Euro Auctions will now continue the strategy successfully executed since 1998 of building, strengthening, investing in and growing across its eight locations in the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, Germany, Spain, Australia, and the United States.

“Euro Auctions will continue to be the auction house of choice in three continents with an unrivalled customer proposition.

Founder and Director, Derek Keys, said, “We believe that Euro Auctions unreserved model provides our customers with an honest and transparent way to buy and sell heavy equipment globally, supported by best in class service from our highly-experienced staff.

“We look forward to accelerating the growth of the Euro Auctions business as an independent global operator.”