Industrial auctioneer Ritchie Bros Auctioneers agreed on Monday to acquire US-based online equipment marketplace IronPlanet for $758.5m, giving an exit to industrial machinery manufacturers Caterpillar and Volvo Construction Equipment.
Ritchie Bros is paying $740m in cash, with additional funds to cover the assumption of unvested equity interests in IronPlanet.
IronPlanet operates an online marketplace for industrial machinery and equipment with more than 1.5 million registered users across the world. Founded in 1999, it sold approximately $757m of goods through its channels in 2015.
The purchase will allow Ritchie Bros to build a more encompassing auction service that will utilise the smaller company’s expertise and resources in the online auction market while enabling it to expand in segments like the oil and gas industry.
The deal was announced alongside a strategic alliance that will involve Ritchie Bros becoming Caterpillar’s preferred partner for onsite and online auctions of used Caterpillar equipment.
Michael T. Young, director at Caterpillar subsidiary Caterpillar Ventures, told Global Corporate Venturing: “Caterpillar’s involvement and our agreement to work with Ritchie Brothers ended up adding a lot of value to the transaction.”
Venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Accel Partners invested $10m in IronPlanet in 2000, and as of a planned initial public offering in 2010 each held 19.5% stakes.
Caterpillar, which had not disclosed investment details, owned 9.8% at the time while another construction equipment maker Komatsu America held 7.5%. Both were high-volume sellers on IronPlanet and designated as ‘preferred providers’.
IronPlanet withdrew the IPO application in 2012 and has since raised 38.7m in equity funding from undisclosed investors, according to securities filings.
Komatsu and Volvo were listed as backers when IronPlanet merged in April 2015 with Cat Auction Services, an alliance formed by Caterpillar and several of its independent dealers, but the former is no longer listed as an investor on IronPlanet’s website.
– Photo courtesy of IronPlanet, Inc.