The merger of IronPlanet, the online marketplace for buying and selling used equipment and trucks, and Associated Auction Services, an alliance of Caterpillar and several independent Cat dealers operating under the name Cat Auction Services, has been completed. The companies reached a merger agreement in December.
During its 15-year expansion, IronPlanet has grown from a used heavy equipment online auction site to a platform of six marketplaces – IronPlanet, TruckPlanet, GovPlanet, allEquip, Kruse Energy & Equipment Auctioneers, and now Cat Auction Services, with a suite of support services.
“This is a very exciting day for IronPlanet and Cat Auction Services, and even more importantly, for our customers as this combination will drive value and services to all of our buyers and sellers in new and innovative ways,” said Gregory Owens, IronPlanet chairman and CEO. “I am confident that our marketplace offerings will enable our sellers to maximize the recovery on assets sold by reaching our right buyers at the right time through channels that are optimized for them. Similarly, our buyers will have access to a broad selection of equipment so that they can manage their inventory on their time frames either in a buy-it-now format or through one of our online or onsite auctions. We will now have access to the broadest choice of late-model, low-hour Cat equipment drawing larger buyer audiences for all of the equipment for sale in our marketplaces.
“The addition of Cat Auction Services is the culmination of our recent expansion efforts that were designed to serve our customers better and which have taken us into the on-truck, government surplus and oilfield equipment markets. We’ve also added sales channels such as allEquip.com, a ‘buy-it-now’ marketplace, and with Cat Auction Services the capacity to produce onsite auction events.”
IronPlanet’s recent joint event with CAS in Florida drew 131 sellers, including 25 participating Cat dealers. In November 2014, IronPlanet launched GovPlanet, which approximately tripled revenue for the government on the disposition of rolling stock for the Defense Logistics Agency Disposition Services of the U.S. Department of Defense on its GovPlanet marketplace. In the same month, it purchased Kruse Energy & Equipment Auctioneers, a leader in oilfield equipment auctions.
