TBAuctions and Surplex Join Forces to Expand Across Europe 

Uli Stalter, Managing Director Surplex; Tom Christenson, CEO TBAuctions; and Michael Werker, Managing Director Surplex

August 8 2024, AMSTERDAM – TBAuctions, Europe’s leading multi-brand online B2B marketplace for used industrial goods, acquires Surplex. The transaction closed on 7th August 2024. This strategic move accelerates TBAuctions’ growth into new countries including Spain, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Serbia. It also bolsters TBAuctions’ presence in Germany, France, and Italy, adding deep industry vertical expertise in metal and woodworking. The combination with Surplex enables TBAuctions to achieve new milestones. The combined brands of TBAuctions reach nearly 200 million annual site visits, source sellers from 20+ countries across Europe, sell over 1.6 million assets receiving bids from 750K bidders in 175 countries, generating hammersales of over €1.6 billion, and employing nearly 1,200 team members.  

The European market for used business equipment sales exceeds €250 billion per year, and digital auctioning is a fast-growing channel for trading these assets. Driven by tech advancements, digital adoption, and sustainability shifts. With a proprietary intelligent auctioning platform, TBAuctions makes auctioning more transparent and efficient through a connected bidder base, automation, AI, and scale. Every year, manufacturing of new vehicles, farm and construction equipment generates over a billion tons of CO2e. By extending the life of existing equipment, and buying secondhand machinery, companies can reduce their carbon footprint, and global emissions. 

Founded in 1999 in Düsseldorf, Germany, Surplex has built a strong reputation across Continental Europe, specializing in installed industrial machinery for metal and woodworking for international commercial buyers. This complements well with TBAuctions position in the Nordics and Benelux focused more on mobile equipment.  

Tom Christenson, CEO of TBAuctions, shared: “Surplex has a great team of people, excellent customers, and a strong brand across Europe. Together with TBAuctions’ best-in-class tech platform and leading brands, we see great opportunities through our complementary services, values, and people to drive exponential growth. This marks a major milestone for us to serve customers in all countries of Europe on our journey to revolutionize digital auctioning and promote sustainable trade.”  

Michael Werker, Managing Owner of Surplex, said: “It makes a lot of sense for Surplex to come together with TBAuctions. We share similar values, commitment to excellent customer service, and a passion to drive the circular economy.” Uli Stalter, Managing Owner of Surplex, summarizes saying: “The combination of skills and geographic footprint between Surplex and the family of TBAuctions brands creates a comprehensive digital auction experience across Europe.”