The assets of Swansea-based Dawnus Construction Holdings Limited (DCHL) have been sold for over £5 million at a recent Euro Auctions event in Port Talbot, Wales.

A two-day auction was held at Players Industrial Estate, Clydach, and Llewellyns Quay, Port Talbot, from 13-14 June.

DCHL went into administration on 15 March 2019, owing unsecured debts of £40.5m to other businesses, £5m to its employees, and £3m to HMRC.

Euro Auctions in conjunction with Hilco valuation services, disposed of over 1,000 mixed assets belonging to DCHL, with a hammer total of £5.35m for the auction.

The sale attracted great interest from not only the home market, but also from a global audience, with over 2,000 bidders from 38 countries viewing the online catalogue, with over 1,800 of those bidders, 85% of the total audience, bidding online.

By the end of the sale, 52% of all successful bids went to online buyers showing the attraction of internet bidding. Whilst many buyers were from the UK and Ireland, there was strong interest and bidding from European countries including, Poland, Spain, Romania, Netherlands, Portugal, Germany, Cyprus, Bulgaria, as well as the USA, Middle East, Africa and as far away as Australia.


A larger range of excavator's backhoe's, site dumpers, mini diggers, bulldozers, rollers, telehandlers, and other popular machinery went under the hammer. In addition, a good compliment of 'site infrastructure' equipment and buildings, were also disposed of. Also, under the hammer went a myriad of buckets and attachments, powershift telehandlers, various configurations of lorries and crew vehicles.

Notable lots and hammer prices included:

• £26,000 - Massey Ferguson 6499 4WD Tractor c/w 3 Point Rear Linkage, Front Weights

• £45,500 - 2015 Bomag BW213D-4I Single Drum Vibrating Roller

• £50,000 - 2011 Doosan DL450 Wheeled Loader c/w Bucket

• £97,500 - 2012 CAT 740B 6x6 Articulated Dumptruck

• £130,000 - 2012 CAT D9R LRC Straight Blade & Tilt c/w Ripper 

• £68,000 - 2014 McCloskey R155 Tracked Scalper 3 Way Split Screener, CAT 4.

• £27,000 - 2013 Scania R440 6x2 Mid Lift c/2015 Scania R450 8x2 Rear Lift Beavertail Plant Lorry c/w Hydraulic Cheese Wedge Ramps, Winch, Fassi F660 16Ton Hydraulic Crane, A C

• £155,000 - 2015 Scania R450 8x2 Rear Lift Beavertail Plant Lorry c/w Hydraulic Cheese Wedge Ramps, Winch, Fassi F660 16Ton Hydraulic Crane, A/C

• £73,000 - 2008 Scania R420 8x2 Rear Lift Beavertail Plant Lorry c/w Hydraulic Cheese Wedge Ramps, Fassi F600XP 16Ton Hydraulic Crane

• £101,000 - 2018 Scania P370 8x2 Rear Lift Beavertail Plant Lorry c/w Hydraulic Cheese Wedge Ramps, Winch, Reverse Camera, A/C.

"The sale was very well attended on the day, with a good crowd of serious buyers, such was the overall interest in the inventory. All equipment sold had been extremely well maintained and interest was strong. As with all Euro Auctions sales, everything was sold without reserve which resulted in competitive bidding," explained Neil McIlwaine, Director of Sales and Business Development at Euro Auctions. "Strong international interest was evident, as is true of all Euro Auction sales, with buyers from the UK being the highest number, followed by Ireland, Netherlands, Poland and Spain, equating to about 40% of all equipment going overseas, such is the global appeal of good quality and well-maintained equipment and machinery."