Ritchie Bros. to open new auction site in Houston

Ritchie Bros. to open new auction site in Houston

Grand Opening auction expected to attract thousands of local and
international bidders

HOUSTON, Feb. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers (NYSE and TSX: RBA), the world's largest on-site and online industrial auctioneer, is holding a three-day unreserved industrial equipment auction from March 25 to 27, 2009 at its brand new permanent auction site in Houston (15500 Eastex Freeway). The Company has been conducting unreserved public auctions at its former site off the I-10 East Highway since 1992, but needed more capacity to hold larger truck and equipment auctions. The Grand Opening of the new site will be celebrated with an official ribbon cutting ceremony during Day One of the three-day auction on March 25, 2009 at approximately 11 a.m.

The Company's new 130-acre Houston site replaces the former 40-acre auction facility and yard. The former property and buildings will be sold in a June Ritchie Bros. unreserved auction. At a Ritchie Bros. unreserved auction, there are no minimum reserves or prices - everything sells to the highest bidder on sale day regardless of price, and the owner is not permitted to participate in the sale.

"This new location is great for our customers and is more than triple the size of our previous site," said Alan McVicker, Regional Manager for Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers. "Customers are excited and looking forward to our first auction in this new facility. It's located minutes from the Houston Intercontinental Airport and is even visible from the air during landing and take-off. There will be ample customer parking and more space, both in the yard and in the auction theater, meaning we won't have to turn away equipment anymore. With the former yard, we were just plain running out of room. We believe in our unreserved auction methods, and look forward to selling our former property on I-10 by unreserved auction."

Approximately 100 acres of the new site are developed with 30 acres remaining undeveloped to facilitate future expansion. It also features a new 35,123-square foot auction building with a 744-seat auction theater in addition to a 33,878-square foot double lane building for equipment refurbishing.

More than 2,500 truck and equipment items from over 200 consignors will be sold over the course of the three-day public auction. Items include agricultural tractors, articulated dump trucks, compaction machinery, hydraulic, crawler, and rough terrain cranes, crawler loaders, crawler tractors, hydraulic and mini excavators, telescopic forklifts, loader backhoes, and a large quantity of various types of trailers and trucks. Interested buyers can register for the auction in person at the new Houston site starting March 21 and can register online if they wish to bid over the internet during the auction. Online bidders should register at least two days in advance. The auction will be completely unreserved, with no minimum bids or reserve prices. Every item will be sold to the highest bidder regardless of price.
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