Fasig Tipton to be purchased by Synergy Investments
Posted on April 21, 2008
Big news in the horse industry: one of the worlds premiere horse sales agencies is going to be purchased by Synergy Investments. Synergy Investments is a Dubai based company, and is one of the companies that is led by Abdulla Al Habbai - who has close ties to the one of the world’s most noted horse buyers, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum.
A historical note: Fasig-Tipton was founded in 1898 and conducts numerous auctions across the country including Lexington Kentucky, Saratoga Springs New York, Timonium Maryland, Miama Florida, and Grand Prairie Texas. Fasig Tipton has been led by the Hettinger family since 1991. It has been stated by the Hettinger family that the Fasig-Tipton name must adhere to the reputation, integrity, and service that has been created and is attached to the name for any sale of the company to be acceptable.
Synergy officials have stated that they do not intend to make any changes at present, and that they will be retaining all personnel and staff within the organization.
In my opinion, this purchase makes a lot of sense for the Dubai company. At just the November 2007 Fasig-Tipton sale, Sheikh Mohammed purchased Round Pond for $5.75 million, and Octave for $4 million. So, almost $10 million just on 2 horses at 1 sale that was being put on by Fasig-Tipton. By the time you figure in the fees that the Sheikh paid - it makes a lot of sense to just purchase the company outright.
One criticism, albeit minor, is the potential for a conflict of interest between the interests of Synergy, and a rival horse bidder against Sheikh Mohammed, is the Coolmore group. Quite often, the Sheikh and Coolmore end up bidding for the same horses and it can become quite competitive. But officials within the Fasig-Tipton organization are quite confident that there isn’t a conflict as if its a good horse that comes up for bid, people will want to bid on it regardless of who is hosting the auction in the first place.
It will certainly be interesting for the Lexington horse auctions coming up to see how all this plays out. Hopefully, the tradition and heritage that Fasig Tipton lends will continue to endure under its new owners.
» Filed Under Kentucky Horse Farms and Real Estate Tips, Lexington Kentucky
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