PLEASANTON, Calif. and EAGAN, Minn. – Feb. 27, 2015 – IronPlanet, the leading online marketplace for buying and selling used heavy equipment and trucks, and Cat Auction Services, an alliance of Caterpillar and several of its independent Cat^® dealers, sold 1,430 items for $48.1 million in gross merchandise value at its live unreserved public auction in Kissimmee, Fla., which took place Feb. 11-13.

“I am extremely pleased with the first IronPlanet and Cat Auction Services joint auction. The support that we received from the Caterpillar dealers as well as our other OEM, rental company, contractor, and industrial customers provided the best line up of equipment in Florida this February,” said Gregory J. Owens, IronPlanet Chairman and CEO. “The live auction format incombination with our 1.3 million registered online buyers generated strong demand. This event is a great example of using technology to transform the business of buying and selling used heavy equipment.”

“We brought IronPlanet on board to liquidate one of our borrower’s equipment. I have never had a vendor work harder in locating and preparing all the equipment for a sale. I appreciated the attention to detail and quick response to unexpected obstacles along the way. The service definitely exceeded my expectations! I would personally recommend IronPlanet to anyone.” – Tracy O. Hatfield, Vice President, PBI Bank

“We used IronPlanet to liquidate a customer’s idle construction equipment. A local auctioneer suggested much of it would be nothing more than scrap. Our net proceeds from the IronPlanet online auction were actually twice what we expected. I think that is a testament to IronPlanet’s business model and its ability to reach a worldwide market. The sales results exceeded our expectations, and we were able to collect all of our outstanding principal, which I don’t think would have been possible had we used anyone else to liquidate the equipment. Our executive team was very impressed and we wouldn’t hestiate to use IronPlanet again.” – Andrew Jarvis, Vice President, Community Trust® Bank

IronPlanet Chairman and CEO, Gregory J. Owens, recently spoke with Construction Equipment Guide following the announcement that IronPlanet and Cat Auction Services signed an agreement to merge. Owens reflects on IronPlanet’s recent growth and the benefits that larger auction marketplaces provide to buyers and sellers. Read it here.