Dispute Over €1.89 Million Sale of 3YO Cadeau Noir-Licosto Dressage Stallion at Hanoverian Auction
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Oct. 28, 2019
The consortium of Paul Schockemöhle and Andreas Helgstrand has labeled as a “strong insult” the failure of the auctioneer to accept their bid of €1.9/US$2.1 million for a three-year-old Cadeau Noir-Licosto premium dressage stallion but accepted a lower price.
The winning bid at the Hanoverian Stallion Market in Verden, Germany last weekend was €1.89/US$2.09) paid by Bonhomme stud near Berlin, owned by a real estate developer.
According to news reports, auctioneer Bernd Hickert left his podium to talk to bidders beforehand.
Rebecca Gutman from stud Bonhomme offered €1.89 million for the bay Cadeau Noir-Licosto stallion. She then snatched the auctioneer’s hammer and banged it on a handrail. Bernd Hickert hesitated briefly before accepting bid, Sold! and slamming down his hammer.
Dr. Ulf Möller, sitting in the front row as a representative of Helgstrand Dressage, had said another bid was coming by phone.
However, the sale went to Bonhomme.
Reports from the scene said that employees of “Schockestrand”–a popular acronym for the consortium of stallion stations Helgstrand Dressage of Denmark and Paul Schockemöhle of Germany–walked out of the auction.
Andreas Helgstrand and Paul Schockemöhle released a joint statement Monday stating that the auctioneer did not recognize an earlier bid of €1.8 million but after consultations the auction was continued.
“According to out understanding, Mrs. Gutman bid €1.89 million and we raised the bid to €1.9 million immediately. Again, the auctioneer didn’t consider our bid and accepted the bid of Mrs. Gutman directly without recognizing our contact.
“We would like to point out we already bought and paid for about 100 stallions at the Verdener stallion with different bidding consortiums.
“Additionally, we make it clear that we did not leave the auction hall because we possibly lost a bidding duel but since we regarded the behavior of the auctioneer as a strong insult against our station and associates.”
