Ritchie Bros. to sell record number of items in Las Vegas unreserved public auction

Buyers to find what they need among 2,200+ items—the most lots ever sold in a Las Vegas auction

LAS VEGAS, NV, March 15 /PRNewswire/ - Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers (NYSE and TSX: RBA), the world's largest industrial auctioneer, will conduct a multimillion dollar unreserved public auction at the Company's auction site in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 24 - 25, 2011. Over 300 consignors have listed more than 2,200 equipment items and trucks to be sold to the highest bidders on auction day—regardless of price—with no minimum bids or reserve prices. Bidders can bid in person at the site on auction day or online in real time at www.rbauction.com.

The equipment featured in the auction, including a large selection of late model, low-hour gear from all over the U.S., will be the largest number of items ever featured in a Las Vegas auction, surpassing the 1,800 items sold at the auction in February 2010.

"This is the largest number of lots we've ever sold at the site in one auction, and the most consignors we've ever had selling their equipment," says Jim Rotlisberger, Regional Manager, Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers. "It's a great way to start off the auction year here and based on our past experience, we expect many bidders to come from out-of-state and out-of-country to purchase this equipment."

Since 2008, 30,600+ lots have been sold in 39 Las Vegas auctions to more than 11,000 buyers from 51 countries. The most expensive lot ever sold was an asphalt plant for US$1.0 million. Other high value items include two crawler cranes which sold for a combined $1.8 million last year.    

Equipment highlights of the March 24 - 25 Las Vegas auction include a 2009 Caterpillar D10T crawler tractor with only 1600 hours. The auction will also feature a large selection of heavy equipment and trucks, including 60+ mixer trucks, 110 truck tractors, 60+ wheel loaders, 35+ loader backhoes, 40+ hydraulic excavators, 25+ motor scrapers, 20+ dump trucks, 20+ motor graders and much more.

Las Vegas Property Developments
In August 2010, Ritchie Bros. completed construction of a 9,000 square foot refurbishing facility at the Las Vegas site. As of April 2011, the Company will begin the second phase of construction on a new 33,000-square foot auction facility complete with administrative offices, a 550-square foot auction theater and a 300-seat Virtual Ramp theater. Completion of the new auction facility is expected by the end of the year. It will feature Ritchie Bros.' Timed Auction Lot (TAL) system, which allows customers to bid on smaller items through on-site internet kiosks or by proxy.

About Ritchie Bros.
Established in 1958, Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers (NYSE and TSX: RBA) is the world's largest industrial auctioneer, selling more equipment to on-site and online bidders than any other company in the world. Ritchie Bros. offers services that enable the world's builders to easily and confidently exchange equipment. The Company conducts hundreds of unreserved public auctions each year, selling a broad range of used and unused equipment, trucks and other assets utilized in the construction, transportation, agricultural, material handling, mining, forestry, petroleum and marine industries. Ritchie Bros. has over 110 locations in more than 25 countries, including 43 auction sites worldwide. The Company maintains a web site at www.rbauction.com and sponsors an equipment wiki at www.RitchieWiki.com

ATTENTION MEDIA: Photo: Jim Rotlisberger, Regional Manager, Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers with a 2009 Caterpillar D10T crawler tractor featured in the company's March 24 - 25^th Las Vegas auction is available at: http://www.rbauction.com/media. 
Members of the public and the media can follow Ritchie Bros. on Twitter @RitchieBros.

SOURCE Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers