Farmers who are buying or selling equipment could have more tools at their disposal with a new deal between two auction companies. To deepen its roots in U.S. agriculture, RB Global is set to acquire BigIron Auctions.
Formerly Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers, RB Global provides insights, services and transaction solutions for commercial assets, vehicles and heavy equipment. BigIron is an online marketplace specializing in connecting farmers who are buying and selling land, livestock, equipment and other assets.
Machinery Pete has known and worked with individuals at both RB Global and BigIron through the years.
“Ron and Mark Stock, owner/founders of Bigiron.com, got their start in the auction biz in 1984 as two young bucks in eastern Nebraska,” Machinery Pete says. “They built Stock Auction Company over two and half decades up to their founding of www.Bigiron.com in 2009, a completely online auction equipment market. That’s a full 11 years prior to the pandemic of early 2020 when the whole auction world was forced to go online only. Looking back in time, it is hard to state accurately how very ahead of their time Ron and Mark Stock were in starting and committing to www.Bigiron.com in 2009. Revolutionary.”
Consolidation is happening across the agricultural industry. According to Machinery Pete, a high percentage of auction company owners are 60-plus years old, so it’s not surprising that auction firms are selling or merging. Also behind the emerging trend of mergers/sales in the auction space is the increasing need for auction firms to continually evolve and employ cutting-edge digital marketing tools and capabilities to better serve their buyers and sellers.
“It no longer is enough to simply market the auction event itself. Those days are gone,” he says. “Market share is at play and attainable for the auction firms who win on this new digital precision reach front.”
According to RB Global, BigIron processed more than $850 million in gross transaction value, which includes $520 million from vehicles and commercial assets. Agricultural land and real estate transactions totaled $365 million.
The acquisition is expected to be complete in the second half of 2026. Until then, both companies will continue to operate independently.
“BigIron brings a talented team with deep ag sector knowledge and an established sales footprint that will continue operating as a stand-alone brand while being complemented by the Ritchie Bros. industrial footprint,” says Jim Kessler, CEO of RB Global. “This will create opportunities to serve even more customers through a combination of onsite, offsite and digital channels and solutions.”
Mark Stock, the Co-Founder of BigIron, says this deal will allow them to serve even more customers.
“RB Global values our culture and shares our respect for the agricultural community. Through this combination, we gain a larger platform and additional resources, which is expected to help us deliver even greater choice and liquidity to all the sellers we serve,” Stock explains.
The acquisition does not change BigIron’s goals, says fellow Co-Founder Ron Stock.
“We look forward to continuing our mission to serve our sellers, buyers and employees for years to come, and to continue operating BigIron as a stand-alone brand with Mark and I involved in the business as usual,” he says.
