Ritchie Bros completes $7 billion IAA acquisition (updated)

RB Global

20/03/2023 21:15

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       March 20 (Reuters) - Canada's Ritchie Bros Auctioneers
Inc  RBA.TO  said on Monday it had completed the acquisition of
U.S. auto retailer IAA Inc  IAA.N , weeks after two proxy
advisory firms urged shareholders to reject the $7 billion deal.
    The company, which auctions and sells used heavy industrial
equipment, last week saw its shareholders vote in favor of the
acquisition despite the pushback from Institutional Shareholder
Services and Glass Lewis. 
    The proxy advisory firms on March 6 recommended that
shareholders reject the deal due to potential risks including a
lag in IAA's performance and a drop in stock price since the bid
was announced in November.     
    Under terms of the transaction, IAA shareholders would get
$12.80 per share in cash and 0.5252 common shares of Ritchie
Bros for each share of IAA common stock they own.
    Ritchie Bros in January sweetened the cash component of its
buyout offer for IAA Inc by 28%, valuing the U.S. auto retailer
at $5.94 billion, and also secured the backing of a key IAA
shareholder which had questioned the initial offer.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N3481C1
   
    With the deal having closed, Ritchie Bros shareholders hold
62.8% of the combined company and IAA stockholders own the rest.
    IAA's common stock ceased trading on the New York Stock
Exchange under the ticker symbol "IAA" as of the close of
trading on March 20. 
    

 (Reporting by Priyamvada C in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika
Syamnath)
 ((Priyamvada.C@thomsonreuters.com https://twitter.com/priyamouli1812?lang=en;))