The McConkey Auction Group, which purchased ABS Auto Auctions in 2020, has transferred ABS ownership to EBlock, and July 12 will be the first ABS auction on the EBlock platform.

ABS will be a key piece of EBlock’s national expansion.

ABS is a completely digital auction company that has 10 physical facilities located throughout California, Arizona, Nevada and Southern Oregon.

MAG chief executive and president Bob McConkey, who has an ownership interest in EBlock, as well, has transferred his ownership in ABS to his stake in EBlock.

“EBlock is now the owner of ABS, as we focus on migrating the technology,” McConkey said in a May interview with Auto Remarketing.

In terms of the reasons behind the transfer, McConkey said that it helps to simplify and align his focus, given his existing investment in EBlock.

Additionally, he said, “because EBlock is a rapidly growing technology company with a strong reputation, it provides a lot more resources to expand the EBlock marketplace across the country, with ABS as the launching pad. 

“We’ve already got a massive customer base, and a similar methodology for digital sales. And so, this really jumpstarts our U.S. expansion,” McConkey said, referring to EBlock, where he is also a board member.

In early 2020, EBlock partnered with Auction Edge to provide independent auctions with a way to hold online dealer-to-dealer auctions. That partnership began with the McConkey Auction Group and was essentially EBlock’s strategy for its U.S. rollout, after its growth in Canada.

“Our core focus is going to be building out our own digital marketplace, while providing the best auction experience in the industry,” said EBlock CEO Jason McClenahan, who joined McConkey on the call. “We’re going to build the marketplace for dealers to transact directly with us. That is our top priority. For independent auctions who want to consign and sell through our marketplace they absolutely can, but we will build out the national customer base for them to leverage.”

ABS is based in Southern Califorrnia, but beyond the Golden State, it has 10 locations throughout the West, including Nevada, Oregon and Arizona.

As to those physical facilities, they will remain, said McClenahan.

“We’ve never wavered on that. So, these facilities will evolve; they will get bigger,” he said. “I see them, instead of (being) holding compounds, being logistics centers to provide a lot of those ancillary businesses, but all through technology.”

In terms of next steps and a timeline, McClenahan said: “We’re in the process of transitioning the business now. The McConkey Auction Group are key partners of ours, Bob’s a board member and partner/investor in our company. They’ve been managing the ABS business under a management agreement and helping us to prepare for the migration to the EBlock platform.”

Going back to the roots of the EBlock and MAG relationship, both McClenahan and McConkey “come from auction roots,” McConkey said, and EBlock made sense as a way for MAG to extend its digital strategy.

McConkey has since invested in EBlock and joined its board.

McClenahan and McConkey agreed that the acquisition of ABS and transitioning their ownership into the EBlock fold was the best decision for the ABS, MAG and EBlock teams.

“I had been aware of ABS over the years and as I started looking at ABS,” said McConkey. “[And] while the technology is not the same, the dealer experience is very similar, which is that it is a digital way to experience a live auction event, where cars are sold in 60 seconds, and where buyers and sellers, which are the real core of any auction, come together in an uncompromised digital auction event.”

“There’s a run list provided well in advance of the scheduled event, where buyers can do their research, just like a live auction. Everything about it is like a live auction, where you put buyers and sellers together and in an urgent auction environment you get a whole bunch of business done instead of dragging this thing out for hours or days or whatever a lot of these other platforms do,” he said.  

“So that led me to the acquisition of ABS. The transition of ABS to the EBlock platform was always the plan. As this evolved it made the most sense to transition our ownership to EBlock as well, and create a more cohesive national strategy with ABS as our launch pad.”