- Ritchie Bros Auctioneers (RBA) announced it is buying IAA (IAA) for $7.3 billion. These are the details.
Ritchie Bros Auctioneers (RBA) announced it is buying IAA (IAA) for $7.3 billion.
Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Ritchie Bros. will acquire IAA in a stock and cash transaction valued at approximately $7.3 billion including the assumption of $1 billion of net debt. The deal has the unanimous support of both boards of directors.
Terms: Under the terms of the merger agreement, IAA stockholders will receive $10.00 in cash and 0.5804 shares of Ritchie Bros. common stock for each share of IAA common stock they own. The purchase price of $46.88 per share represents a premium of approximately 19% to the closing share price of IAA common stock on November 4, 2022, and 23% to the 10-day volume-weighted average price, using Ritchie Bros.’ 10-day volume-weighted average price on the NYSE of $63.55. The total purchase price also reflects a transaction multiple of 13.6x IAA’s last twelve-month Adjusted EBITDA3 as of October 2, 2022. Upon completion of the transaction, Ritchie Bros. stockholders will own approximately 59% of the combined company and IAA stockholders will own approximately 41%.
IAA is known as a leading global digital marketplace connecting vehicle buyers and sellers, and the transaction will diversify Ritchie Bros.’ customer base by providing the Company with a significant presence in the vehicle remarketing vertical that has strong industry fundamentals with proven secular growth. And the combination will accelerate its growth and strategic vision to create a next-generation global marketplace for commercial assets and vehicles, supported by advanced technologies and data analytics.
Plus the Ritchie Bros. management team has extensive experience in the automotive and insurance ecosystem, which will help shape the go-forward customer experience. And with enhanced scale and an expanded addressable market, Ritchie Bros. will be able to drive additional Gross Transaction Value (GTV) growth through its platforms and auction sites, in turn generating more insights for its customers and expanding the adoption of Ritchie Bros.’ other high-margin tech-enabled services.
Strategic / Financial Benefits
1.) Combining Ritchie Bros. and IAA’s product offerings immediately creates a leading global marketplace for commercial assets and vehicles with pro forma GTV1 of approximately $14.5 billion for the last 12 months ended September 30, 2022 and pro forma revenue1 and Adjusted EBITDA1,4 of approximately $3.8 billion and approximately $1.0 billion, respectively, excluding the impact of synergies. The combined company’s increased scale will allow it to build out its integrated digital marketplace.
2.) The deal represents Ritchie Bros.’ entry into the large and steadily growing vehicle sector. IAA is an established market leader, currently delivering annual GTV of approximately $8.6 billion. It is one of the most trusted brands in the industry, with long-standing customer relationships. Adding a successful business in a new vertical will diversify Ritchie Bros.’ business by both customer and geography and create a more resilient business model to perform through market cycles.
3.) By combining IAA’s existing footprint of more than 210 facilities across the United States, Canada and Europe with Ritchie Bros.’ existing footprint of over 40 owned and 24 leased facilities globally, the combined company will have new opportunities to advance its yard strategy more efficiently in key regions across the United States and internationally. The expanded real estate base will provide the company with additional flexibility to drive profitable growth by strategically leveraging capacity to best serve customers across both businesses. This includes leveraging Ritchie Bros.’ footprint to expand IAA’s broader capacity, including for catastrophic weather events. The combined real estate footprint also increases Ritchie Bros.’ proximity to a broader customer base and local yards, allowing it to provide faster service and reduce transportation time and costs, enhancing the overall experience for customers.
4.) This combination brings together the best capabilities of both Ritchie Bros. and IAA. Marketplace technology investments are expected to drive enhanced returns as they will be amortized over significantly more units. Moving forward, the combined company will offer expanded access to additional insights, services, and transaction solutions to a wider customer base.
5.) The companies expect to achieve $100 to $120+ million in annual run-rate cost synergies by the end of 2025, driven primarily through consolidating back office, finance and technology, general and administrative, and operations.
6.) The deal is expected to be accretive to Ritchie Bros.’ adjusted earnings per share by low single digits in the first full year following the transaction close and mid-teens accretive after that.
Integration Plan, Leadership and Board of Directors
— Ann Fandozzi will continue to serve as CEO of the combined company.
— The Ritchie Bros. Board of Directors will expand to add IAA CEO and President John Kett and 3 other current members of the IAA Board following the close of the transaction. And Erik Olsson, chairman of the Ritchie Bros. Board, will serve as chairman of the Board of the combined company.
— Ritchie Bros. will continue to be legally incorporated in Canada and will retain its offices and employee base in Burnaby, British Columbia and IAA’s Chicago, Illinois offices will serve as the official headquarters of the combined company. As of the transaction closing, approximately two thirds of the workforce will be in the United States on a combined basis.
Following the transaction close, Ritchie Bros. will continue to trade under the symbol RBA on both the NYSE and TSX.
Timing to Close, Approvals and Financing
The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2023 subject to approval by Ritchie Bros. stockholders of the issuance of Ritchie Bros. stock in connection with the transaction and approval of IAA stockholders of the transaction, receipt of regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.
Ritchie Bros. plans to fund the cash consideration of the transaction through a combination of cash on hand and new debt. The Company has bridge financing commitments in place from Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, and Royal Bank of Canada. At closing of the transaction, the combined company is expected to have a pro forma leverage ratio of approximately 3x net debt to adjusted EBITDA. Additionally, Ritchie Bros. will prioritize de-leveraging following the close of the transaction. Ritchie Bros. also intends to maintain its current quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share and will consider future increases as the Company de-levers its balance sheet.
KEY QUOTES:
“IAA accelerates our journey to become the trusted global marketplace for insights, services, and transaction solutions. Their highly complementary business in an adjacent vertical will allow us to unlock additional growth. Through our trusted brands, similar operating model, and complementary services, we expect to drive efficiencies and create a more resilient business.”
“This announcement is a testament to the passion and dedication of the Ritchie Bros. and IAA teams. We expect this transaction to create new and exciting growth and development opportunities for employees of both Ritchie Bros. and IAA as we scale our combined business. As we do so, we will continue to foster our aligned culture and shared values grounded in supporting and empowering our team to create a best-in-class customer experience.”
— Ann Fandozzi, CEO of Ritchie Bros
“Together, IAA and Ritchie Bros. will have expanded global operations, accelerating international buyer development and enhancing ancillary services such as transportation and finance. The transaction will also provide compelling value to stockholders through the immediate cash component and the opportunity to participate in the substantial growth potential of our combined company with significant resources. I believe that very appealing new opportunities are ahead for IAA employees and new capabilities for customers as we enter this exciting new chapter with Ritchie Bros.”
— John Kett, CEO and President of IAA
