How we helped

Auction Technology Group plc (ATG) is the operator of world-leading marketplaces and auction services for curated online auctions, seamlessly connecting bidders from around the world to around 4,000 trusted auction houses across two major sectors: Industrial & Commercial and Art & Antiques.

The Group powers eight online marketplaces and listing sites using its proprietary auction platform technology, hosting in excess of 85,000 live and timed auctions each year.

ATG has been supporting the auction industry since 1971 and the Group has offices in the UK, US and Germany. In 2021 ATG debuted on the London Stock Exchange with a market capitalisation of £600m.

Tech & data:

  • When ECI invested in ATG Media Group in 2014 it was a publishing-oriented business focused on arts and antiques. We supported its transition to become a true technology business, including developing a tech-native leadership team with new hires from Paypal, Matches Fashion and Vodafone.
  • This included hiring a new CTO, increasing the scale of the tech team by 4x, and professionalising operational systems such as a new data warehouse and analytics platform.

Strategic acquisitions:

  • ATG has made four acquisitions during our investment period, significantly expanding product capability and geographic reach.
  • Following its IPO, ATG announced the acquisition of Live Auctioneers, the leading Art & Antiques marketplace in the US.

Internationalisation:

  • Those acquisitions helped the business to grow internationally, for example the acquisition of the central European Arts and Antiques online listings leader, Lot-tissimo, and the US provider of online auction services to auctioneers of industrial assets, Proxibid.

People & culture:

  • We invested significantly into the senior leadership team during our investment, including bringing together the team who have led the recent IPO. This enabled the business to invest in a market leading tech platform, tackle an international M&A strategy and ultimately deliver on its IPO.