On July 12, 2016, Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Inc. (Ritchie Bros.), the world’s largest industrial auctioneer and leading equipment distributor, acquired the remaining 49-per-cent interest that it did not already own in Ritchie Bros. Financial Services Ltd. (RBFS) from a minority shareholder group.
RBFS, which was already 51-per-cent owned by Ritchie Bros. prior to the transaction, provides loan and lease equipment financing solutions to purchasers of industrial equipment, including customers of Ritchie Bros.’ auction business.
The transaction involved cash consideration of $53.9 million, together with additional compensation that may be payable to the vendor, contingent upon certain operating performance targets being achieved over the next three years.
Ritchie Bros. was represented by Darren Watt, Ranj Sangra and Ben Heller of its Vancouver-based internal legal group, and by its external counsel Lawson Lundell LLP with a team that comprised Jagdeep Shergill and Andrew Robertson (corporate), Valerie Mann (technology) and Len Glass (tax).
Edwards, Kenny & Bray LLP acted for the vendor with a team that included William Hartley, Fraser Hartley and Scott Howie (corporate).