TBAuctions acquires 2 auction companies

Dutch online auction company TBAuctions is acquiring the Bjarøy Group and Swedish auction platform PS Auction. The acquisitions accelerate the company’s plan to build a pan-European platform for second hand goods.

TBAuctions is an online auction platform and marketplace for second hand goods. It is one of the biggest in the European market, with a turnover of 435 million euros, over 13.000 auctions per year and more than 10 million monthly website visitors.

New minority shareholder

At the end of 2021, the company was acquired by Castik Capital, which manages private equity funds. Today, it announces that it will accelerate its growth in Europe by acquiring two companies: Norwegian Bjarøy Group (consisting of auction platform Auksjonen and appraiser Bjarøy) and PS Auction. In addition to the acquisitions, the online auction platform also announced that it has gained a new minority shareholder: Summa Equity, one of the largest impact funds in Europe.

In January this year, the Stockholm-based investor closed its third fund at 2.3 billion euros. It was one of the first private equity firms to commit to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals initiative.

‘Summa Equity closed its third fund at €2.3 billion.’

“Summa is excited to partner with the TBAuction team together with Castik to accelerate the reused goods market through online auctions. We are impressed by the team’s journey and their purpose “nothing of value should be lost”, leveraging technology to provide a sustainable alternative to purchase new goods”, commented Summa Equity’s Michael Vollset.

Active in 10 countries

While TBAuctions is currently already active in 10 European countries, it will enter into two new markets with the acquisition. Auskjonen and PS Auction will continue operating within the holding under their own brand and online storefront. Auksjonen specializes in auctioning off second hand vehicles and machinery. The website has over 9 million yearly visitors, and it continually hosts around 1.800 online auctions, B2B and B2C.

PS Auction hosts around 2.000 online auctions per week in 16 product categories. These attract buyers from over 80 countries and the website has over 11 million yearly visitors. It recently acquired two other Swedish auction companies: Slag1 and Units.

‘The online auction market in Europe will show strong growth rates, we will play a prominent role in it.’

“We see that other auction houses can only facilitate their growth by making huge investments in their technology”, said Herberth Samsom, CEO of TBAuctions. “The online auction market in Europe will show strong growth rates and with our technology lead, we will play a prominent role in it.”