Blenheim-based RM Auctions is selling a quarter of its business to one of the biggest auction house names on the planet.
Sotheby’s is purchasing a 25% stake, and the business will adopt the new name, RM Sotheby’s.
The two firms have teamed up in the past on a number of sales in North America and Europe, including the Art of the Automobile Auction in New York in November 2013, which produced nearly $63 million in just two hours. That’s where RM set the new auction record for a Ferrari 250 LM at $14.3 million.
Rob Myers, chairman and founder of RM, said the partnership makes good business sense.
“The partnership that has been formed between RM Auctions and Sotheby’s is undoubtedly the most effective way for us to reach the ever-growing worldwide audience of collectors who take a keen interest in the collector car asset class,” he said in a media release. “No other organization in the world has a client base as far-reaching as Sotheby’s, and since we have worked so closely and successfully with them in the past, it makes perfect sense that we form a strategic partnership that creates a truly worldwide platform for collector cars. It’s an exciting time in our company history, and for the hobby at large.”
The first RM Sotheby’s auction will take place next month in Florida.
