Ritchie Bros. to conduct Grand Opening auction in Manchester, NH on April 17

New 54-acre auction site is the Company's first in the state of New Hampshire

MANCHESTER, NH, April 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ - Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers (NYSE and TSX: RBA), the world's largest industrial auctioneer, will celebrate the official Grand Opening of its new auction site in Manchester, NH with an unreserved public auction and ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday, April 17, 2014. The auction will begin at 9:00 a.m. (local time) and will feature more than 850 heavy equipment items and trucks. Every item will be sold to the highest bidder, regardless of price, without minimum bids or reserve prices. Bids can be made in person at the auction site, live online at rbauction.com and by proxy. A ribbon-cutting ceremony with Company officials and local dignitaries will be held at approximately 10:00 a.m. (local time). This new site, located on 25 developed acres (54± total acres), replaces the Company's former auction site in Hartford, Connecticut, as the Manchester location (next to exit 11 on I-93) is more accessible and convenient for customers.

"We have a strong customer base in the New England market and are happy to be able to open our first auction site in the state of New Hampshire," said Stephen O'Duggan, Regional Sales Manager, Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers. "Our Grand Opening auction features a great selection of equipment from a variety of industries. As with all our auctions, we are open to the public—anyone can register to bid and buy. We encourage interested buyers to come to the site ahead of time to inspect, test and compare items."

Gary Abbott, Executive Vice President of the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of New Hampshire, will be cutting the ribbon at next week's Grand Opening auction in Manchester: "As our state's leading commercial construction industry organization, the AGC of New Hampshire and its members are very excited to welcome the world's largest industrial auctioneer to our state. The company is very important to the development of our region as it provides easy equipment exchange solutions for our members and other heavy equipment owners from New Hampshire."

Ritchie Bros.' new 54-acre Manchester auction site is located at 39 Hackett Hill Road in Hooksett, NH and features an auction ramp with seating for 350 interested bidders, a refurbishing facility for equipment washing and repair, and approximately 25 acres for equipment display. It is expected this site will host four auctions each year. Interested sellers who would like to sell their equipment in this or any Manchester, NH auction should contact +1.603.268.0517.

Ritchie Bros. will be selling equipment for dozens of local companies and equipment owners, including 50+ pieces of equipment for DBU Construction Inc.—a directional boring and utility contractor based in Chichester, New Hampshire.

"All the equipment we're selling has been well maintained and is ready to go.  When we buy equipment we want to put it to work right away, so we make sure to bring our equipment to auction the same way," said Adam Towne, Chief Financial Officer of DBU Construction Inc. "We've been selling at Ritchie Bros. auctions in the northeastern US since 2006. They have the best advertising, smoothest auction process and get us the best results. We are excited about the new Manchester site because the closer location provides more versatility and flexibility for us when buying and selling."

Equipment highlights in the auction include wheel loaders, hydraulic excavators, crawler tractors, dump trucks, truck tractors, pickup trucks and more. For complete equipment listings, including detailed equipment information, visit https://www.rbauction.com/heavy-equipment-auctions/manchester-nh.

Manchester, NH Grand Opening auction details:

• Location: 39 Hackett Hill Road in Hooksett, NH, 03106
• Contact: +1.603.268.0517
• Date & time: Thursday, April 17, 2014, starting at 9:00 a.m.; on-site registration opens on April 15
• Ribbon cutting: approximately 10:00 a.m. on auction day
• Anyone can come to the auction site before auction day to inspect, test and compare items.
• Bids can be made in person at the auction site, online in real time at rbauction.com and by proxy
• The auction is open to the public; registration to bid is free; a refundable bid deposit may be required
• More information, including detailed equipment information and high-resolution photos, is available at www.rbauction.com

About Ritchie Bros.
Established in 1958, Ritchie Bros. (NYSE and TSX: RBA) is the world's largest seller of used equipment for the construction, transportation, agriculture, material handling, energy, mining, forestry, marine and other industries. Ritchie Bros. ^TM solutions make it easy for the world's builders to buy and sell equipment with confidence, including live unreserved public auctions with on-site and online bidding (rbauction.com), the EquipmentOne^TM secure online marketplace (EquipmentOne.com), a professional corporate asset management program, and a range of value-added services, including equipment financing for customers through Ritchie Bros. Financial Services (rbauctionfinance.com). Ritchie Bros. has operations in more than 25 countries, including 44 auction sites worldwide. Learn more at RitchieBros.com.

ATTENTION MEDIA: Photos and other media resources are available for use at http://www.rbauction.com/media. Members of the public and the media can follow Ritchie Bros. on Twitter @RitchieBros.

SOURCE Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers