The Freeman family is selling a controlling interest in Philadelphia-based Freeman’s Auction House to the management team. Freeman’s, America’s oldest auction house, has been owned by the Freeman family since 1805. Financial terms of the deal will not disclosed,
the
Philadelphia Business Journal
reported.
Chief operating officer Hanna Dougher, vice chairman Alasdair Nichol and president Paul Roberts will assume ownership of the business, the article said. They have led the auction house for 16 years. The sale includes the transfer of the company’s headquarters, the article said.
The Freeman family will retain a minority interest in the company, and Samuel M. “Beau” Freeman II will continue to serve as chairman, the journal article said.
Freeman’s has regional locations in Boston; Richmond and Charlottesville, Va.; Wayne, Pa.; and Beverly Hills, Calif., as well as a presence in London and Edinburgh, Scotland, through a partnership with Scottish auctioneers Lyon & Turnbull, the article said.
Nichol
told the
Philadelphia Inquirer
that the new owners plan to expand the business globally and increase international sales. Acquisitions of other auction houses are possible, the
Inquirer
article said.
“I decided I was getting older, and I was trying to think about succession,” Freeman, 79, told the
Inquirer.
“I didn’t see anybody in the family taking hold and developing it.” (Sources:
Philadelphia Business Journal
, March 9, 2016;
Philadelphia Inquirer
, March 9, 2016.)
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