Ritchie Bros. says ‘could not be more excited about our future with IAA’

Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers (RBA) issued the following statement related to the acquisition of IAA, Inc. (IAA): "The substantial value created under Ritchie Bros.’ current Board of Directors and management team shows that shareholders should look to the future, not the past. We have great respect for Mr. Ritchie as a co-founder of the Company. However, he retired from the Company nearly 20 years ago. Mr. Cmolik’s history with the Company is similarly dated. Ritchie Bros. is very different from the small family-run traditional auction business that Mr. Ritchie co-founded in Kelowna, British Columbia in 1958. Under the current Board and management team, the Company has evolved, including through M&A, from physical auctions to embrace technology and digitization. Ritchie Bros. today is a trusted global marketplace for value-added insights, services and transaction solutions. As a result, Ritchie Bros. is no longer a stagnant business with little to no growth. Instead, under current leadership, Ritchie Bros. is now delivering record growth and premier shareholder returns year-after-year. The IAA acquisition was carefully considered and thoroughly due diligenced. It is the right next step to accelerate Ritchie Bros.’ transformation into a global, multi-vertical, digital marketplace with a long runway for continued outstanding profitable growth and significant, sustainable value creation. We’ve heard from many customers at both Ritchie Bros. and IAA who share our enthusiasm about the Ritchie Bros. + IAA combination and the services, capabilities and reach we can offer together. We look forward to continuing our record of execution and delivering outstanding value for shareholders, employees and customers alike. Integration planning is well underway with dedicated teams, oversight and structure to support a seamless execution. We are ready to hit the ground running once the transaction closes. We could not be more excited about our future with IAA."