Bonhams Looking to Grow

The Wall Street Journal has an article on Bonhams and the current growth strategy to compete with Sotheyb's and Chrisite's. Bonhams. Chairman Robert Brooks would like to grow Bonhams to eventually become the largest international auction house.  That is a tall order, as Bonhams last reported total sales in 2007 were $600 million, compared  to $2.8 billion at Sotheby's and $3.3 billion at Christie's in 2009. The growth strategy includes Asia and Australia, as well as the hiring of noted specialists.

The WSJ reports

As an auctioneer, if you didn't have a good time in the last quarter of 2009 then basically you don't know what you are doing because it was very, very strong."

Closely held Bonhams doesn't release sales figures, but auction houses as a whole suffered in the recession. In 2009, Christie's global sales were down 35% from 2008; during the same period, Sotheby's sales fell more than 50%.

But Mr. Brooks says the market is relatively buoyant. "One of the bellwethers in the auction market is jewelry, and that has seen growth all last year. The main thing is there are a lot of people with high reserves of cash and high levels of disposable incomes, and we are seeing no fall off at all in any areas."

In January, Bonhams took market leadership in 10 specialist areas in the U.K. market, including jewelry and Japanese art. But in the big-ticket areas of the market, such as impressionist and contemporary art, its sales fall short of its rivals.

"In terms of overtaking the market, impressionist paintings may be one of the last dragons that we actually slay," he says. "But that doesn't mean we are not in the hunt, but we admit there is a long way to go in impressionist art."

Sitting in the boardroom of Bonhams headquarters on London's New Bond Street, Mr. Brooks says one of the strategies for growth could be acquisitions. As the firm has relatively little debt on its balance sheet, there are options to expand.

To read the full WSJ article, click HERE.