Ritchie Bros. to Close Raleigh-Durham Location as Buyers Move Online

Construction and industrial equipment sales group Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Incorporated (NYSE:RBA) will be closing five locations across North America in a move to focus on online sales and larger locations.

In an email to employees, Ritchie Bros. CEO Ravi Saligram said the closure of small sites comes as more people are taking part in auctions online rather than in person. “In fact, over half of all winning RBA bids today come from online bidders,” he wrote.

According to the company, approximately 20 employees will be affected by the closing of locations including Raleigh-Durham, N.C. In addition to Raleigh-Durham, Prince George, British Columbia, Albuquerque, N.M., Manchester, N.H., and St. Louis, Mo. will be closing. The closing are expected to take place by December 31, and employees at those locations will be offered jobs elsewhere.

Ritchie Bros. was founded in Kelowna, Canada in 1958 and is currently headquartered in Vancouver. The company has  locations throughout Canada, the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia.

Year to date Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers  is -25.41%, -8.78% over the last quarter, and -18.19% for the past six months.

Over the past 50 days, Ritchie Bros. stock’s -21.78% off of the high and -0.70% removed from the low. Their 52-Week High and Low are noted here. -37.85% (High), -0.70%, (Low). In August 2016, Ritchie Bros. acquired IronPlanet for approximately US$758.5 million.