Ritchie Bros. conducts auction helping raise $1 million for Saskatchewan charities

Teaming up with Brandt Group of Companies and other sponsors, all proceeds from the charity event were donated to the Alzheimer Society of Saskatchewan and Football Saskatchewan

REGINA, July 31, 2014 /CNW/ - Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers (NYSE andTSX: RBA), the world's largest industrial auctioneer, recently teamed up with Brandt Group of Companies and other sponsors to conduct a charity auction and event called A Night to Remember. The event raised more than $1 million for Saskatchewan charities: $962,000+ of which was donated to the Alzheimer Society of Saskatchewan and $100,000 to Football Saskatchewan. Ritchie Bros. conducted the charity auction portion of the event and DER Resorts donated a luxury fishing trip vacation to Warm Springs Resort at Stuart Island, B.C. as an auction item. The eight-person fishing trip sold for a staggering $100,000.

"We have a large complement of employees who live and work in Saskatchewan, as well as thousands of customers, so we are very appreciative to be able to support one of the many causes important to  Saskatchewan residents," said Kevin Tink, Ritchie Bros. Senior Vice President and auctioneer for the event. "This was an extremely successful event thanks in large part to the efforts of the team at Brandt. They made sure to fill the crowd with people who were there to participate, which helped make my job as an auctioneer a little easier. The results achieved in this charity auction will be hard to duplicate."

The event took place on July 18, 2014 and consisted of an auction, dinner and performances by top country acts including George Canyon and Blue Rodeo. Another unique item in the charity auction was a custom Saskatchewan Roughriders themed 1968 Shelby GT500 Mustang convertible signed live by four Rider greats: George Reed, Roger Aldag, Gene Makowsky and Chris Getzlaf. The Mustang commemorates the four Saskatchewan Roughriders Grey Cup championship teams. The car sold for $200,000.

"We're honoured to have hosted this great event and even more pleased with the result of over $1 million being raised to support these two worthy charities," said Shaun Semple, president of the Brandt Group of Companies. "This money will go a long way to further Alzheimer's research in our province and improve the life of people with dementia and their families."

Other sponsors of the event include Rawlco, Agrium, Broda Construction, McIntyre Foundation, Mosaic, Advance Collision, Phoenix Group, Ford, Drummond Group of Companies, Victoria Jewellers, Enbridge and more.

"We're so thankful to Brandt and all the sponsors who made this event possible, and we're humbled by the generosity of those who stepped up to create such an incredible event," said Joanne Bracken, CEO of the Alzheimer Society of Saskatchewan. "Efforts like this make a huge difference to provide hope for a cure and to provide necessary support for those currently living with the disease."

About Ritchie Bros.
Established in 1958, Ritchie Bros. (NYSE andTSX: 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

Kim Schulz, Mgr, Corporate Communications & Events, Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers
Phone: [phone] | Email: [email protected]

Or

Kevin Tink, Senior Vice President, Sales, Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers
Phone: [phone]