What ARQANA does

ARQANA S.A.S. is a French auction house specializing in the sale of thoroughbred (galloping) horses, operating as a licensed "opérateur de ventes volontaires aux enchères publiques" under French regulatory approval dated March 8, 2007. Headquartered at 32 avenue Hocquart de Turtot in Deauville, the company runs scheduled physical auction events across three French venues — Deauville (flagship La Vente d'Août and Vente d'Eté), Saint-Cloud (Vente de l'Arc), and Auteuil (Vente du Grand Steeple) — alongside a proprietary online bidding platform, ARQANA Online, that enables remote real-time participation. The product portfolio spans yearling sales, breeze-up (pre-trained 2-year-old) sales, breeding stock auctions, mixed sales, Arabian thoroughbred auctions (Vente de Pur-Sang Arabes), and show jumping sales (Show Lumet), with related sub-brands ARQANA Trot (harness racing), ARQANA Series, and ARQANA Racing Club extending into trotting auctions and fractional ownership.

The technology layer supporting these auctions consists of an integrated platform: ARQANA Online for remote bidding, ThoroughRepository as a comprehensive pedigree and sales-history database (serving as a long-running B2B data asset), ARQANA TV for video catalogue content, and My Arqana+ as a customer-facing portal for account and bidding management. Supporting infrastructure includes PDF lot-sheet generation, CSV/Excel catalogue exports, and a documented GDPR-compliant data protection program (DPO registration DPO-97853). No public API, SDK, AI/ML capabilities, or third-party technology integrations are documented.

ARQANA earns revenue on a transaction-fee basis, charging commissions on successful horse sales and entry/listing fees on sellers presenting horses; specific commission rates are not publicly disclosed. The customer base consists of professional bloodstock buyers, racing stable operators, and stud-farm breeders on both sides of the marketplace — the named buyer set spans international operations such as Meridian International, Mandore International Agency, Capucines Bloodstock, Kirtlington Park Stud, and operators tied to Coolmore-affiliated owners (Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, John Magnier), while sellers include leading French studs such as Haras du Cadran, Haras du Buff, and Écurie des Monceaux. Marketing and distribution are conducted through the corporate website, ARQANA TV, social media, email/newsletter, and ARQANA Racing Club community channels.

Name

ARQANA

Legal name

ARQANA S.A.S.

Website

https://arqana.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

ARQANA is a French-licensed auction house that sells thoroughbred horses via scheduled physical sales at Deauville, Saint-Cloud, and Auteuil, supplemented by the ARQANA Online remote bidding platform, serving professional bloodstock buyers, racing stables, and stud-farm breeders.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Thoroughbred Horse Auction Services

akta.pro primary industry

Equine Sales, Auctions & Bloodstock Agencies (AFAEAGAH)

Keywords

• Thoroughbred horse auctions
• Bloodstock auction services
• Yearling sales
• Equine auction house
• Horse sales platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Deauville

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Auction Commissions: ARQANA charges commissions on successful horse sales at auction. The company acts as an operator of voluntary public auctions (operateur de ventes volontaires aux enchères publiques) as defined by French law, approved on March 8, 2007.
2. Entry/Listing Fees: Sellers pay fees to register horses for auction sales, including yearlings, horses in training, and breeding stock.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

ARQANA is a French auction house operating as a licensed voluntary public auction operator (agréé on March 8, 2007) that conducts thoroughbred horse auctions. The company runs scheduled physical sale events at venues in Deauville, Saint-Cloud, and Auteuil, alongside a proprietary online bidding platform (ARQANA Online). Sale types include yearling sales, breeze-up sales, breeding stock sales, horses-in-training sales, and specialized events for jumping and Arabian horses.

Product overview

ARQANA is a French auction house specializing in thoroughbred horse sales, operating as a diversified platform with both physical auction events and an online bidding system. The core offering consists of scheduled physical auctions including La Vente d'Août (flagship August sale), Show Lumet (show jumping), Vente d'Eté (summer), Vente d'Automne (autumn), Breeze Up, Vente de Yearlings, and specialized events for breeding stock, jumpers, and Arabian horses. Supporting the auction business are digital platforms: ARQANA Online provides real-time remote bidding, ThoroughRepository offers a pedigree database, Arqana TV delivers video content, and My Arqana+ serves as a customer portal. The company also operates ARQANA Series (racing club) and ARQANA TROT (trotting sales) as distinct sub-brands.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ARQANA Series: A branded sales series offered by ARQANA
• ARQANA Racing Club
• ARQANA Trot
• Arqana Online
• ThoroughRepository

Products and services

• Show Lumet A July show jumping horse sale held in Deauville featuring jumping-bred horses and competition-ready animals, serving breeders and buyers of sport horses.
• La Vente d'Août The flagship annual thoroughbred auction held in Deauville in August, featuring yearlings and breeding stock with 325+ lots across three sessions.
• Vente d'Eté Summer auction held in June/July in Deauville, featuring 2-year-old horses in training, breeding stock, and store horses.
• Vente d'Automne Autumn auction held in November featuring yearlings, breeding stock, and CAE (Courses-Avants-Elevage) horses.
• Vente de Yearlings d'Octobre October yearling sale featuring juvenile thoroughbreds for racing prospects.
• Breeze Up Pre-trained 2-year-old horse sale where horses are paraded at speed before auction, allowing buyers to assess racing potential.
• ARQANA Online Online auction platform enabling remote real-time bidding on thoroughbred horse sales, accessible globally for buyers unable to attend physical events.
• Vente de l'Arc Specialized auction held at Saint-Cloud coinciding with the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
• Vente de Pur-Sang Arabes Dedicated Arabian thoroughbred horse auction.
• Vente Mixte de Février February mixed auction featuring varied horse categories.
• Vente du Grand Steeple Major jump racing horse sale held at Auteuil.

Quantifiable outcome

• Sell-through rate of 77.58% for standard sales events
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• ARQANA Racing ClubminorOthersARQANA Racing Club is a related platform operated by ARQANA, providing opportunities for individuals to participate in thoroughbred horse ownership and racing.
• ARQANA TrotminorOthersARQANA Trot is a separate platform dedicated to trotting horse auctions, operating under the ARQANA brand for the harness racing industry.
• ARQANA OnlinecoreTechnology or IntegrationARQANA Online is the company's proprietary online auction platform enabling remote real-time bidding at thoroughbred sales. It represents a core technology partnership for digital sales delivery.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Tattersalls: UK-based premier thoroughbred auction house operating since 1766. Most direct peer to ARQANA, with similar regulatory framework, yearling/breeze-up/breeding sale calendar, and international buyer base. Tattersalls is the dominant European bloodstock venue and primary competitive benchmark.
• Keeneland Association: US-based (Lexington, KY) thoroughbred auction company operating yearling, breeding stock, and horses-of-racing-age sales. Comparable business model (commission-based auction house with physical venue and online bidding), serving the North American market with significant international buyer participation.
• Fasig-Tipton: North American thoroughbred auction house with sales calendar covering yearlings, two-year-olds, and breeding stock. Operates physical venues and online bidding, directly comparable to ARQANA's hybrid model. Publicly owned by Synergy Investments Ltd.
• Goffs: Ireland-based thoroughbred auction house with a year-round sales calendar including yearlings, breeding stock, and foal sales. Direct competitor in the European bloodstock market with overlapping seller and buyer base to ARQANA.
• Inglis: Australia's leading thoroughbred auction house, operating yearling, breeding, and racehorse sales across multiple venues. Comparable business model and target customer base, primarily serving the Australian and Asian bloodstock markets.
• Magic Millions: Australian thoroughbred auction company best known for the Gold Coast Yearling Sale. Operates a similar commission-based auction model with both physical venues and online bidding, comparable to ARQANA's hybrid structure.

Regional players

• BBAG: German bloodstock auction house (Baden-Baden) offering yearling and breeding stock sales. Regional peer serving the German-speaking European market, with overlapping buyer pool and similar auction mechanics to ARQANA but a smaller sale calendar.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/InfoArqana
• YouTubearqana.com/arqana_tv.html
• Facebookfacebook.com/arqanadeauville
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/arqana

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ARQANA