Westbury’s AV Tech To Be Auctioned Online Nov. 17-19

November 5, 2020 by Dave Haynes

Digital signage and AV nerds who do ops and events may want to make a calendar note to check in on an auction set for Nov. 17-19 organized to sell off the physical assets of Toronto’s Westbury National Show Systems Ltd.

The company was Canada’s largest full-service live event rental production company, but a combination of business struggles and COVID-19’s impact on live events resulted in the company being placed in receivership on October 9th.

The company had operated from an approximately 60,000-square-foot facility in metro Toronto.

In a three-day online auction event scheduled for November 17-19, Tiger Group will be selling off gear.

The online auction will offer an expansive inventory of gear valued at more than $15 million, with Day 1 for audio equipment, Day 2 for lighting and video gear, and Day 3 for staging equipment. The offering includes gear from such manufacturers as Adamson, Avid, Ayrton, Black Magic, Christie, Clay Paky, Folsom, Mac, Martin, Shure, Sony, Vari-Lite, and Yamaha.

Separately, on December 8, Tiger will be conducting an online auction for the remaining assets of Westbury’s Audio-Visual Integrative Division, which specialized in designing and implementing systems integration for Enterprise, Healthcare, Education, Government, Gaming, Sports, Entertainment, and Worship clients  across Canada. Assets up for bid will include office furniture and equipment, vehicles, warehouse racking, and  supplies.

Full details will be posted at SoldTiger.com on November 12.

“The Tiger team is excited to bring to market the assets of one of Canada’s largest AV Rental houses,” said Jonathan Holiday, Director of Business Development, Tiger Commercial & Industrial, and leader of its AV vertical. “With Westbury serving premier live events and productions for more than 40 years, an inventory of this magnitude does not become available very often.  The quantity and quality of gear up for bid provides a tremendous opportunity for rental and production companies, houses of worship, universities and other end-users to add to their existing inventory and prepare for 2021 as events start to take place again.”

It is a shame this is happening, but it IS happening. There could be some very good deals available for companies that want to stock up on AV gear at, let’s assume, bargain rates.

It could still, however, be some time before we see a return to things like concerts, full event venues and trade shows and conferences.