The Motleys headquarters, where the Richmond Auto Auction will continue to operate under new ownership. (Courtesy Motleys)
Mark Motley, who makes his living selling things for others, has just closed a sizable sale of his own.
The longtime local auctioneer and head of Motleys Asset Disposition Group announced this week the sale of the Richmond Auto Auction, which he started three decades ago.
The buyer was America’s Auto Auction, which is said to be the second-largest auto auction group in the U.S. The Indiana-based company plans to continue the Richmond auction and will continue to operate it from Motleys’ headquarters facility in South Richmond.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Motley continues to own and operate the other arms of his business, including an industrial auction, commercial and residential real estate brokerages, and a warehousing and logistics operation.
The deal with America’s marks the second time Motley has sold his auto auction business since starting it the late 1980s.
Motley was reared in the auction business by his parents, who started with antiques auctions in 1967.
Mark Motley
In the late ’70s and early ’80s, Motley began to help his father Dick Motley with an auto auction that they ran out of the old Auto Interior Cleaners on 22nd Street in the city.
At the age of 27, Motley decided to strike out on his own and formed Richmond Auto Auction.
“I really felt like there was a need to build a quality auction and Richmond would support it,” he said. “I went around and started talking to banks and dealerships and government agencies until I got enough support,” he said.
He started the business out of a facility on Willis Road in Chesterfield, before moving it to a former car dealership at 4400 W. Broad St., just east of Willow Lawn.
The business outgrew that site and moved to a 40-acre facility in Sandston only to be courted and acquired by Copart, a national auction company, in 2002.
Four years later, Motley bought the business back from Copart and had been running it ever since. He eventually moved the business to 3600 Deepwater Terminal Road on the Southside, where he built a new headquarters complex for all of his businesses in 2006.
The property is known for its can’t-miss sign: a tractor-trailer-turned-billboard that sits 40 feet in the air.
The auto auction business runs about 500 vehicles every Friday, amounting to about 20,000 vehicles sold a year.
Motley said he was not actively looking to sell the business when America’s Auto Auction came calling.
“I wasn’t thinking about it at all,” Motley said. “I got a call from a friend that had sold his business to this group. He said, ‘Hey, they’re interested in your business.’ I said ‘Nah, I’m not interested.’ They kept calling and eventually we started talking.”
He said the deal was consummated after about nine months of negotiations and that it came down to price and a desire to minimize some of the overall company’s workload.
“Quite frankly, it’s a lot when you’re doing what we do,” Motley said of the company’s many arms. “I thought the timing was right and the price was right.”
The Motleys tractor-trailer sign in front of its Deepwater Terminal facility.
The sale to America’s closed Aug. 1. Motley said the bulk of the auto auction’s 80-or-so employees are staying on with America’s.
America’s will run the local auction under the brand America’s Richmond Auto Auction of Virginia. The Motley deal is America’s third acquisition in the last two months, according to industry trade publication Auto Remarketing. The company now has 41 auction locations, including two in Virginia.
Motley said the auto auction sale does not affect the operations of his other businesses, which continue to operate from the hub on Deepwater Terminal Road. America’s now leases the auto auction space from Motley in the same building.
With the other divisions still running as usual, Motley said the company looks to continue to be a family-run business well into the future. He said he proudly brought his son into the fold after his recent graduation from VMI. He’ll be the third generation of Motley auctioneers.
The Motleys headquarters, where the Richmond Auto Auction will continue to operate under new ownership. (Courtesy Motleys)
Mark Motley, who makes his living selling things for others, has just closed a sizable sale of his own.
The longtime local auctioneer and head of Motleys Asset Disposition Group announced this week the sale of the Richmond Auto Auction, which he started three decades ago.
The buyer was America’s Auto Auction, which is said to be the second-largest auto auction group in the U.S. The Indiana-based company plans to continue the Richmond auction and will continue to operate it from Motleys’ headquarters facility in South Richmond.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Motley continues to own and operate the other arms of his business, including an industrial auction, commercial and residential real estate brokerages, and a warehousing and logistics operation.
The deal with America’s marks the second time Motley has sold his auto auction business since starting it the late 1980s.
Motley was reared in the auction business by his parents, who started with antiques auctions in 1967.
Mark Motley
In the late ’70s and early ’80s, Motley began to help his father Dick Motley with an auto auction that they ran out of the old Auto Interior Cleaners on 22nd Street in the city.
At the age of 27, Motley decided to strike out on his own and formed Richmond Auto Auction.
“I really felt like there was a need to build a quality auction and Richmond would support it,” he said. “I went around and started talking to banks and dealerships and government agencies until I got enough support,” he said.
He started the business out of a facility on Willis Road in Chesterfield, before moving it to a former car dealership at 4400 W. Broad St., just east of Willow Lawn.
The business outgrew that site and moved to a 40-acre facility in Sandston only to be courted and acquired by Copart, a national auction company, in 2002.
Four years later, Motley bought the business back from Copart and had been running it ever since. He eventually moved the business to 3600 Deepwater Terminal Road on the Southside, where he built a new headquarters complex for all of his businesses in 2006.
The property is known for its can’t-miss sign: a tractor-trailer-turned-billboard that sits 40 feet in the air.
The auto auction business runs about 500 vehicles every Friday, amounting to about 20,000 vehicles sold a year.
Motley said he was not actively looking to sell the business when America’s Auto Auction came calling.
“I wasn’t thinking about it at all,” Motley said. “I got a call from a friend that had sold his business to this group. He said, ‘Hey, they’re interested in your business.’ I said ‘Nah, I’m not interested.’ They kept calling and eventually we started talking.”
He said the deal was consummated after about nine months of negotiations and that it came down to price and a desire to minimize some of the overall company’s workload.
“Quite frankly, it’s a lot when you’re doing what we do,” Motley said of the company’s many arms. “I thought the timing was right and the price was right.”
The Motleys tractor-trailer sign in front of its Deepwater Terminal facility.
The sale to America’s closed Aug. 1. Motley said the bulk of the auto auction’s 80-or-so employees are staying on with America’s.
America’s will run the local auction under the brand America’s Richmond Auto Auction of Virginia. The Motley deal is America’s third acquisition in the last two months, according to industry trade publication Auto Remarketing. The company now has 41 auction locations, including two in Virginia.
Motley said the auto auction sale does not affect the operations of his other businesses, which continue to operate from the hub on Deepwater Terminal Road. America’s now leases the auto auction space from Motley in the same building.
With the other divisions still running as usual, Motley said the company looks to continue to be a family-run business well into the future. He said he proudly brought his son into the fold after his recent graduation from VMI. He’ll be the third generation of Motley auctioneers.