Millon expands in Italy, buys Il Ponte Casa D’Aste

Millon, French leading independent auction house, announced the acquisition of Il Ponte. Founded in 1974, Il Ponte Casa d’Aste is Italy’s top 3 auction houses, with twenty expert departments.

For the first time, an auctioneers’ group is acquiring an Italian auction house, offering new opportunities to Italian collectors, buyers and sellers. Their combined results, reaching €130m by the end of 2023, will create a new independent European leader in the auction market.

The many synergies that will be implemented by the departments of both entities will provide a solid foundation for the global expansion of Millon. The group continues to make acquisitions in order to gain an early foothold in up-and-coming art markets, as it did in 2024 when it became the first Western auction house to open a branch in Vietnam, and through its long-term partnership in Lebanon, from where it conducts two duplex auctions a year.

The Italian company is celebrating its 50th anniversary, while the French group is approaching its centenary. In their respective territories, the two family-run houses combine tradition and innovation in the same spirit of excellence for their customers.

Alexandre Millon, Chairman of MillonAuction Group, comments:

Il Ponte is a family business whose objectives of excellence and customer service have ensured its longevity in its market and enabled it to achieve its position as a leading player. We’ve been interested in this company for more than a year now, and the financial health that Il Ponte has demonstrated since our first meetings with them has been confirmed time and time again, with the same rigorous accounting. When it comes to acquisitions, this is a decisive factor. This acquisition will enable us to take a strategic turn and continue our international expansion. The Italian market offers the prospect of direct growth, as there is no duplication of audiences between our two companies.

Millon Auction Group’s European acquisition strategy is guided by the search for partners with a similar profile to Millon in their local market:

• Multi-specialists, capable of managing large collections and estates in many disciplines (20 for Il Ponte to check and 49 for MILLON)
• The quest for performance in the service of sellers is reflected in Il Ponte’s sell-through rate of 83%, above the market standard of around 70%.
• The ability to create sales formats that regularly set new records, such as the ‘So Unique’ sale of Domenico Gnolli, which set a new record for contemporary works in 2022, or the sales of Soulages’ Engravings, which broke several world records in this category for the artist in 2023.
• Long-established benchmark players in their market, capable of deploying their craftsmanship on a large scale: Millon Auction Group consolidated with Il Ponte should be presenting more than 10,000 lots in 2024, while keeping customer service at the heart of their day-to-day business.

The acquisition of Il Ponte Casa d’Aste is in line with Millon Auction Group’s objective of offering a wide range of specialties (horizontality) and a variety of adapted sales formats (verticality) to two completely different and complementary customer bases, with the idea that ‘1+1=3’. The Group will thus be able to offer a seamless service to Italian buyers in France and vice versa, while complying with local regulations.

Rossella Novarini, Managing Director of Il Ponte Casa d’Aste

“We are proud and excited to join the Millon & Associés family,”

“This partnership not only highlights and enhances our long-standing commitment but also amplifies our positioning in the art market, outlining new horizons of growth and innovation. Together with Millon, by intertwining our histories and visions, we aim to create a new harmonious partnership that can become an absolute and trustworthy reference point for both Italian and international clients.”

Millon Auction Group, on the strength of its consolidated experience and its status as an independent leader on the European market, is developing new perspectives and bringing its innovative vision to each market where it has established a foothold, as it has done on the Belgian and Vietnamese markets. This acquisition of a renowned partner demonstrates Millon’s commitment to creating and maintaining long-term relationships of trust with its customers, a competitive advantage for the group: “Its leaders are the soul of this company. We see our business as that of a trusted intermediary, regardless of the legislation and specific features of each country.”