LEOMINSTER based auctioneer Brightwells has this afternoon confirmed an agreement to sell its multi million pound bloodstock business to fellow bloodstock specialist Tattersalls.

The terms of the acquisition are, at this stage, commercially confidential and still subject to clearance from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

Tattershalls will take on the Brightwells bloodstock team and has the option to  maintain a presence in Leominster.

Brightwells and Tattershalls  have been in talks over such deal for some time ahead of formal negotiations.

Brightwells bloodstock sales have focused on the National Hunt sector of the bloodstock market, a sector in which Tattersalls in the UK has no presence.

The proposed acquisition will enable Tattersalls to serve a wider range of breeders, racehorse owners and trainers, as well as adding two further auction sites to the Tattersalls headquarters in Newmarket.

Tattersalls Ireland does have a presence in National Hunt and will be strengthened by the addition of complementary sales.  

Though no sum has been confirmed today, Brightwells says its board received an “attractive offer”  that could be invested in the future for the rest of the business and new market structures.

Brightwells has been holding bloodstock sales at Cheltenham Racecourse since 2009 and Ascot Racecourse since 1990.

In 2014, Brightwells held six sales at Cheltenham for a total sale ring turnover of almost £12.3 million – up from £11.6 million the previous year.

Nine sales at Ascot saw a total sale ring turnover of more than £2.2 million last year  - up from £1.5 million in 2013.

Irving Parry, Chairman of Brightwells said:

“Brightwells Bloodstock is a fantastic business and we are proud of the role it has played in our history alongside our general horse sales.

“This sale of the bloodstock enterprise will allow us to focus and redeploy resources in our already established markets and develop into new ones.

“We believe that selling our bloodstock business to a company such as Tattersalls can only benefit the industry, making available the extra investment that Tattersalls will be able to offer.”

Tattersalls Chairman Edmond Mahony said:

“Tattersalls is delighted to have reached agreement with Brightwells, whose sales have been a great success in recent years. We look forward to continuing to develop the sales and to widening the choice available to buyers and sellers in the UK National Hunt market.

“This is an exciting addition for Tattersalls and we are also very much looking forward to working with the management teams at both Cheltenham and Ascot Racecourses.”

Both Brightwells and Tattersalls are confident of clearance from the CMA within the next two to three months saying that, far from reducing competition, the proposed acquisition does not materially affect Tattersalls’ market share of global bloodstock business and strengthens the competitive market for National Hunt horses.

Initial talks with Cheltenham and Ascot are said to have been “positive” with “more substantive” discussions to come. Auctions are expected to continue – if not be developed further, at both.

Tattersalls has no plans, at present, to change the terms of sale.

Early response from major customers of both are said to be “positive” too.

The Brightwells business is being acquired by  Tattersalls UK but there will be “significant co-operation” between the National Hunt businesses in Ireland and the UK.

Four core bloodstock employees at Brightwells have agreed to transfer to  Tattersalls  once the acquisition is completed.

BACKGROUND – BRIGHTWELLS

Established in 1846, Brightwells is one of the UK’s leading auction houses.

The business now encompasses leading market status in auctions of vehicles, machinery, fine art, horses (excluding bloodstock), livestock and land.

Brightwells also provides professional and agency services to land and property owners.

Brightwells annually serves more than 50,000 businesses and individuals in the UK.

Over 2014, the business turned over more than £100 million in sales of goods and services.

 

BACKGROUND – TATTERSALLS

The company was founded in 1766 by Richard Tattersall and can claim to be both the oldest bloodstock auctioneer in the world and the largest in Europe.

Tattersalls is an international firm offering 10,000 thoroughbred horses each year at 18 sales at its Newmarket headquarters in England and in Fairyhouse, outside Dublin, Ireland.

In 2014, Tattersalls’ total ring turnover was over £286 million, including over £35 million in Ireland.