Tyrone-based auction house, Euro Auctions, has announced the acquisition of Canadian based Michener Allen Auctioneering Limited.

Involved in industrial equipment and automotive kit, Michener Allen Auctioneering Limited (Michener Allen) was founded in 1971.

It has 50 employees and operates from three sites, two in Alberta, and one in Manitoba. The business conducts 50 auctions per year.

Euro Auctions said that the acquisition will significantly strengthen its existing North American operations in the US under the Yoder & Frey brand and will enable Euro Auctions to gain an established foothold in the Canadian market.

This news comes just over two years after Euro Auctions agreed to sell its own company to Canadian auction house Richie Bros in a deal which was worth €916m.

However, Ritchie Bros later decided not to pursue the deal after the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) raised significant concerns about the transaction.

Euro Auctions was founded in 1998 and has over 200 employees in 14 countries. In 2022, the company conducted 60 auctions, selling close to 90,000 items for £500m+ (€578m+) across its nine locations in the UK, Northern Ireland, Germany, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, and the US.

Derek Keys, Euro Auctions founder, commented: “We are delighted to welcome the wider Michener family into the Euro Auctions family. We don’t see this as an acquisition more of a coming together of two strong family businesses, sharing the same core principle of delivering unrivalled customer service by treating both buyers and sellers equally. We have always kept a keen eye on the Canadian market with the ambition one day of entering it, so we are delighted with this opportunity.”

The leaders of Michener Allen, Ian and Wade Michener, will remain in the business and will continue to oversee operations.

“The Euro Auctions Group will further strengthen our focus on industrial and agricultural equipment markets in Canada and we look forward to benefitting from the truly global customer base of the Euro Auctions Group. This is just the start of the next chapter of the 52-year history of our company, and we look forward to working with the Euro Auctions team.

Importantly, Euro Auctions will be retaining the Michener Allen employees and brand, and this will really give our brand global exposure,” said Ian Michener.

Tyrone-based auction house, Euro Auctions, has announced the acquisition of Canadian based Michener Allen Auctioneering Limited.