Vancouver-headquartered Ritchie Brothers
Auctioneers is to team up with Canadian funder Travelers Financial
Group to provide financing in North America and Europe.
The new venture will offer leasing and
financing options to all Ritchie Brothers auction customers from
SMEs upwards. The European operation will be rolled out in early
2012.
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While a European base has not yet been
selected, the North American operation is to be based in Burnaby,
British Columbia.
Jim Case, CEO of Travelers Financial Group,
said: “Ritchie Brothers was seeking a partner and both of our
businesses were headquartered in the same place. The solution that
Travelers had proved to be the one they thought would best
facilitate financing for customers.”
As part of its launch in Europe, customers
will be able to access RBFS via Ritchie Brothers’ website or call
centres.
Although research into where exactly the new
venture will have its European operations is ongoing, Ritchie
Brothers Financial Services (RBFS), as it will be known, is already
looking to partner with a number of leasing and equipment finance
companies.
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By GlobalDataCase did not reveal which companies RBFS would
be looking to work with, either in Europe or North America, as
agreements are yet to be finalised.
He said: “Effectively, it’s something we’ve
just begun to roll out. Agreements in North America haven’t been
completely locked down yet, but we have a great line up of
partners. Announcements will be made in the next 30 days.”
According to Case, the greatest challenge will
be in making sure the company is able to do business in any
European jurisdiction.
He said: “We have to ensure we come up with a
consistent offering that will satisfy our customers’ needs.
Education is the way we’re going about this.”
He added that all Ritchie Brothers’ auction
sites throughout Europe could be supported by the new programme, as
much of the company’s work is done online.
“About 25 percent of sales are done online at
Ritchie Brothers so it really is a programme where it doesn’t
matter where the customer is, as long as it’s in a jurisdiction
where financing is going to be available,” Case said.
Most of the equipment sold by Ritchie Brothers
is second hand, he added, and there remains a steady market for
this.
Case commented: “One of the things we’ve
noticed from our business in North America is the fact that after
the recession, the inventory of new equipment reduced
significantly.
“As economies emerge from recessionary times,
demand for equipment is increasing and therefore used equipment is
still relatively robust to date.”
He added: “The smallest transactions will be
about €10,000, but we will facilitate financing for as large an
amount as the customer requires.
“Each country has its own culture and its own
style of doing business. We’re going to do our very best to
facilitate each country’s requirements.”
claire.hack@vrlfinancialnews.com
