Gordon Brothers Elevates its Global Industrial Practice with Key Hire and Major Asset Sales
Gordon Brothers has elevated its global industrial practice with the appointment of Duncan Ainscough as Managing Director, Valuations & Industrial across Europe, and major Brazilian and Australian asset sales. “These developments represent milestones in our commercial and industrial growth worldwide,” stated Frank Morton, CEO International, “We’re thrilled to have Duncan on board and to continue our strong growth in these important regions.”
Duncan has deep knowledge of used equipment markets having held senior management roles with leading global surplus asset management and valuation firms. Duncan will focus on expanding the firm’s European commercial and industrial activity, building on the firm’s industrial operations across Brazil, Australia, Japan, the U.S. and Canada. Additionally, Gordon Brothers announced the exceptional sale of major power generation equipment from a UK power station, Seal Sands in Teesside, North East England. This unique sale is unparalleled within the industry due to the pristine, virtually unused condition of the equipment.
In Australia, Gordon Brothers is undertaking one of the largest transport and mining asset sale in the country’s history after acquiring a large portfolio of mining and earthmoving assets from the Koolyanobbing Iron Ore Mine in Western Australia. The prior owner sought immediate liquidity to facilitate its exit of the Australian market. Gordon Brothers provided the needed capital upfront, and is in the process of an orderly sale of the entire mobile equipment fleet, comprising over 300 major pieces of machinery and equipment. This sale complements the 200+ mining, earthmoving and transport assets that Gordon Brothers has sold in the past year in Australia as part of the Rivet and VCS Gordon Brothers’ Australian team operates out of its Sydney and newly opened Melbourne office. The group entered the Australian market in the spring of 2017 in Sydney.
The firm has also experienced increased commercial & industrial activity across Latin America with the acquisition of marine parts from one of Brazil’s largest shipbuilders, as part of a joint venture. The assets, consisting of a large lot of marine parts and related assets were originally acquired to manufacture an Ultramax Deep Sea Drill Ship under contract with a state-owned oil company. After a long process, the shipbuilder selected the joint venture because it was the only disposition agent able to purchase the entire lot and manage the complex logistics of selling the assets from the Northeast of Brazil.
Through a joint effort between Gordon Brothers’ Brazilian and Australian teams, the firm has also acquired a fleet of Caterpillar D8T bulldozers from one of Latin America’s largest construction and engineering companies. This transaction represents the third engagement with Gordon Brothers for the disposal of this firm’s excess heavy machinery and equipment. The machines are located in a remote area in the Amazon, and are due to arrive in Fremantle, Western Australia for sale in the local mining market in December. The continued recession in Brazil, coupled with the distant location of the assets, made their in-country sale challenging. Gordon Brothers was the only party willing to provide a turnkey solution, taking responsibility and risk for all the logistics involved with transporting the assets to Western Australia’s active used heavy machinery market.
These developments represent the firm’s commitment to commercial & industrial growth globally. Many of these transactions are unique within their local markets for their scale or complexity. Within the assets disposition industry at-large they also stand out, using the up-front capital of Gordon Brothers to generate immediate liquidity and maximum returns for clients across jurisdictions.
This international commercial & industrial Gordon Brothers’ robust North American practice, which invests more capital into commercial & industrial dispositions than the firm’s direct competitors - combined. Worldwide, Gordon Brothers has conducted over 35,000 appraisals and appraised $1 trillion of assets.