Christie’s, the British art and luxury auction house founded in 1766, has entered into an agreement to acquire the California-based collector car auction house Gooding & Company for an undisclosed sum. When the deal is complete by the end of this year, Gooding & Co. will change its name to Gooding Christie’s.
Christie’s, which is owned by holding company Groupe Artémis, said the purchase “marks a significant milestone for Christie’s, establishing its position in the rapidly expanding classic and collector car market and further solidifying its leadership in the broader luxury sector.”
In fact, Christie’s had been active in the past with collector car auctions, including at Pebble Beach, and exited the car auction world in 2007. David Gooding, who founded Gooding & Co. with his wife Dawn Ahrens in 2003, is a former managing director of the automobile department at Christie’s. “I am confident that our acquisition by Christie’s is the next step in our continued development as a global market leader in this space,” said Gooding. “We are confident that the combination of resources will provide many opportunities for significant global growth,” echoed Christie’s CEO Guillaume Cerutti.
The move is reminiscent of other consolidations within the collector car auction industry over the past decade. In 2018, private equity firm Epiris acquired British auction house Bonhams. The same year, heavy equipment auctioneer Ritchie Brothers acquired Oklahoma-based Leake Auction Company. In 2022 events, media, sports, and fashion company IMG acquired Barrett-Jackson. The Gooding Christie’s deal, though, is more reminiscent of the one between Canadian auction house RM Auctions and art, jewellery, and collectables broker Sotheby’s in 2015. After the announcement of that strategic partnership, RM changed its name to RM Sotheby’s.
According to Christie’s, Gooding will continue with its existing calendar of events, which includes annual automobile and automobilia auctions in Pebble Beach, California, Amelia Island, Florida, and London, as well as a number of online-only sales. Christie’s also added that the acquisition “will provide Gooding & Company with an enhanced global platform to support its future growth and brand development.” The specifics aren’t clear, but in addition to the added financial resources Gooding could benefit from things like in-house financing, which Christie’s already offers in its jewellry and art departments, for automobile sales.
The deal comes at something of a tough time for both the art and classic car auction industries. Sotheby’s and Christie’s reported 25 per cent and 22 per cent drops in auction sales in the first half of 2024, respectively, and last month’s car auctions in Monterey achieved lower than anticipated sales totals.
