Ritchie CEO Defends US Auto Deal After Record Stock Decline

  • ‘This deal is about the future,’ CEO Ann Fandozzi says
  • Canadian firm agreed to buy IAA in cash-and-stock transaction

A ringman takes bids during a Ritchie Bros. industrial equipment auction in Dunnigan, California in May 2010.

Photographer: Ken James/Bloomberg

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Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Inc.’s top executive defended the company’s decision to buy US auto retailer IAA Inc. for $6.2 billion, saying the business is less cyclical than investors believe.

The Canadian auction company’s shares fell nearly 18% in New York on Monday, the most on record, after the cash-and-stock deal was announced.