End of an era for Bardrill

After more than 35 years of providing specialist civil construction and infrastructure services throughout South Australia and areas of Queensland, the owners of Bardrill Corporation are looking towards retirement and selling the business on their terms.

Bardrill has chosen Ritchie Bros. to handle its complete dispersal and will sell over 400 assets, which mainly consist of Caterpillar branded gear, in an upcoming unreserved live public auction in Brisbane on November 22.

Bardrill has always had a solid relationship with Ritchie Bros. and when it came time to sell, Bardrill Board Chairman, Brian Purdie, and CEO, Reid Toogood, didn’t think twice about calling on Ritchie Bros. to help sell the company's assets.

“The relationship with (Ritchie Bros. Regional Sales Director) Finlay Massey, and (Ritchie Bros. Territory Manager) Simon Ward has always been very positive,” Toogood said. “We find they take a balanced approach to deliver outcomes for both parties. Finlay and Simon always stand tall when they have to.”

Bardrill has primarily operated in the oil and gas industry in the Cooper and Eromanga Basins, but was more recently involved with assisting the development of upstream infrastructure in the Coal Seam Gas areas of regional Queensland. The fleet of machinery Bardrill is selling in Brisbane has been well maintained and looked after, Ritchie Bros. said.

“They have a solid reputation for their machinery maintenance program, and we always see a lift in bidding when their assets go over the ramp,” Massey said.

“The machinery is in great shape, and ready to be put to work straight away,” Ward added.

Among the 400 assets set to go under the hammer include Caterpillar dozers, excavators, motor scrapers, loaders, prime movers, tipper trucks, crane trucks, service trucks, water tankers, side tippers, late model Toyota Landcruisers and more.

Ritchie Bros. said the upcoming auction in Brisbane is shaping up to be a massive international event with over 1300 items to choose from.

“The volume and quality of machinery in the Brisbane sale is outstanding,” Massey said. “This will be the biggest unreserved auction in the Asia Pacific region for 2019.”

Ritchie Bros. said significant packages like Bardrill’s attract international buyers, particularly given the favourable exchange rates.

“The reach Ritchie Bros. has is something other auction companies don’t have, which is a major draw card,” Toogood said.

“We’ve sold equipment through Ritchie Bros. to New Zealand and the Middle East, so the potential to maximise the return on the machinery when factoring in exchange rates is higher than just considering the domestic market.”

For more information on the upcoming Brisbane auction, go to rbauction.com.au