Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers sold about $3.7 billion of equipment at 339 unreserved auctions around the world in 2011, a 12-percent increase in gross auction proceeds compared with 2010 and the highest gross auction proceeds in company history. The company achieved gross auction proceeds of more than $1 billion in the fourth quarter alone, the largest fourth quarter in Ritchie Bros. history.

Ritchie Bros. attracted record online bidder registrations and sold more than $1.1 billion of equipment, trucks and other assets to online bidders in 2011, a 29-percent increase compared to 2010.

Ritchie Bros. conducted its final unreserved auctions of 2011 this week in Olympia, Wash., and Nashville, Tenn.

“2011 was a year of change for Ritchie Bros., with an updated strategic plan and new mission statement guiding our course,” said Peter Blake, Ritchie Bros. CEO. “We executed very well and accomplished many significant milestones in 2011, starting with our first ever $2 billion first half in terms of gross auction proceeds. We also achieved significant online milestones, including more than $5 billion in lifetime online equipment sales and over $1.1 billion in annual online equipment sales.”

Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers is based in Vancouver, B.C., Canada.