Aligned Asset Group

What Aligned Asset Group does

Aligned Asset Group (AAG) is a privately held, family-owned auction and asset management firm founded in 2006 by Carl and Deena Radde and based in Waconia, Minnesota. The company specializes in liquidating and repositioning idle food manufacturing equipment, serving enterprise clients in frozen food, prepared food, bakery, and snack food manufacturing across the United States. AAG conducts scheduled online and hybrid auctions, complemented by end-to-end plant liquidation, asset transfer between client locations, inventory cataloguing, photography, marketing, transport, and closing services. Its go-to-market is event-driven and sales-led, built on long-term advisory relationships with food manufacturers managing surplus or relocating equipment rather than one-off transactions.

The firm's core technology is its hybrid auction capability, which runs live and online bidding simultaneously across established third-party marketplaces Bidspotter and Proxibid, allowing AAG to access a broad national and international buyer base without owning bidding infrastructure. Revenue is generated primarily through an 18% buyer's premium on hammer prices (transaction-based commission) plus professional services fees for full plant liquidations, asset transfer coordination, and on-site White Glove cataloguing. Customer segments are vertical (food manufacturing companies with idle or surplus assets) and horizontal (food manufacturing equipment buyers), and the buyer pool extends worldwide via the integrated marketplaces.

AAG operates with a small team of 1-10 employees, including the founder, co-owner, an executive secretary, marketing manager, and project managers, several of whom are family members continuing a 5th-generation auctioneering heritage that began in Minnesota in 1886. The competitive set is narrow (the founder states only five companies nationally serve this niche), and the firm's positioning emphasizes relationship-driven advisory work over transactional auction execution, with adjacent expansion signaled by a 2024 partnership into recycling plant equipment liquidation.

Name

Aligned Asset Group

Legal name

Aligned Asset Group

Website

https://alignedassetgroup.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Aligned Asset Group is a family-owned Minnesota auction firm that liquidates and manages idle food manufacturing equipment for enterprise clients, running hybrid online auctions via Bidspotter and Proxibid and providing full plant liquidation services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial Equipment Auction Services

akta.pro primary industry

Collateral Loan Servicing & Asset Disposition (Storage, Auction & Resale) (FSAKALAF)

Keywords

• Food manufacturing equipment auctions
• Industrial asset liquidation
• Plant liquidation services
• Online auction services
• Surplus equipment resale

Headquarters

HQ city

Cologne

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Auction Commission: Company earns commission through auction sales of food manufacturing equipment. Includes 18% buyers' premium on sale price.
2. Asset Management Services: Full-service asset management including inventory cataloguing, assessment, photography, marketing, transport, and complete plant liquidation services

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Aligned Asset Group provides auction and asset management services for the food manufacturing industry, specializing in liquidating idle or surplus food processing equipment through hybrid (live and online) auctions. The company manages complete plant liquidations, facilitates inter-location asset transfers, and provides cataloguing, photography, marketing, transportation, and closing services for sellers of food manufacturing assets.

Product overview

Aligned Asset Group (AAG) operates as a full-service asset management and auction company specializing in the food manufacturing industry. The core offering is Auction Services combined with Complete Plant Liquidation and Hybrid Auctions that run across multiple platforms simultaneously. These are supplemented by add-on modules including Asset Transfer Services for relocating equipment between branch locations, Inventory Cataloguing for professional assessment and documentation, White Glove Service for on-site client support, Strategic Planning and Consulting, and access to an established Buyer Network. The company facilitates the dispersal of idle food manufacturing assets through competitive bidding auctions, connecting sellers with buyers across North America and worldwide.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Auction Services
• Complete Plant Liquidation End-to-end management of closing complete food manufacturing facilities, including assessment, inventory, cataloguing, photography, marketing, transportation, and final closing. Designed for companies liquidating or closing manufacturing plants.
• Asset Transfer Services Facilitation of transfers of idle assets between client branch locations when equipment can be better utilized elsewhere within the same company. Helps food manufacturers relocate rather than liquidate assets where possible.
• Hybrid Auctions Combined live and online auction format run across multiple bidding platforms (Bidspotter and Proxibid) simultaneously to maximize buyer participation and competitive bidding outcomes.
• White Glove Service Premium on-site service where the AAG team travels to client locations to handle cataloguing and image capture, allowing clients to focus on their core business operations. Includes on-site tagging, photography, and catalog creation.
• Strategic Planning and Consulting Consulting services working alongside clients to create detailed catalogs with clear, accurate descriptions and photography guidelines for optimal online advertising and auction outcomes.
• Inventory Cataloguing Comprehensive inventory services including assessment, cataloguing, and professional photography of equipment assets to create detailed catalogs for marketing and auction purposes.

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Bonnette Auction CompanyminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 7 November 2024Joint auction partnership for the IntegriCO recycling plant equipment auction in November 2024. Bonnette Auction Company (Barbara Bonnette) partnered with Aligned Asset Group to conduct this virtual bank-ordered sale of recycling equipment.
• BidspottercoreTechnology or IntegrationPrimary online auction platform used for all auctions. Buyers bid through Bidspotter.com with complete catalogs, terms and conditions, and online bidding functionality.
• ProxibidcoreTechnology or IntegrationSecondary online auction platform used for some auctions. Mentioned in bidder education and pre-approval processes.
• National Auctioneers AssociationminorOthersProfessional membership organization. Carl Radde joined at age 18 and graduated from Certified Auctioneers Institute (CAI) in 1991.
• Minnesota State Auctioneers AssociationminorOthersProfessional membership and advocacy organization. Carl Radde served on the board of directors for three years and was elected president in 2006. Carl Radde inducted into MSAA Hall of Fame in 2023.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Federal Equipment Company: Used process equipment broker serving pharmaceutical, food, plastics and chemical manufacturers. Operates a similar inventory-and-disposition model and shares the same buyer pool seeking food manufacturing equipment at competitive prices.
• Aaron Equipment Company: Reseller and broker of used food, chemical, and pharmaceutical processing equipment. Competes head-on for food manufacturers seeking to divest idle assets, with overlapping inventory of mixing, packaging, and processing lines.
• Perry Videx: Dealer/broker of used food, beverage, and pharmaceutical processing equipment. Same target customer base (food manufacturers with idle or surplus assets) and complementary deal structure (dealer sales vs. auctions), making it the closest substitute for seller-side relationships.
• Maynards Industries: Industrial auctioneer and liquidator serving manufacturing, food processing, and heavy equipment sectors globally. Runs hybrid live/online auctions similar to AAG's methodology, directly competing for seller mandates in food manufacturing liquidations.

Broad incumbents

• Hilco Industrial: Larger, diversified industrial asset disposition firm covering machinery, equipment, and inventory across multiple verticals including food manufacturing. A scaled incumbent with broader resources that overlaps AAG's food manufacturing vertical as one of many served segments.
• Biditup Auctions Worldwide: Industrial auction house running live, online, and hybrid auctions across multiple verticals including food processing. Uses similar platforms (Bidspotter, Proxibid) and overlapping buyer networks, competing directly for mid-market industrial mandates.
• Heritage Global Partners: Industrial auction and valuation firm serving multiple manufacturing and technology verticals. Comparable auction and asset disposition services for industrial equipment, including food processing, as part of a broader portfolio.
• PPL Group: Corporate asset disposition and auction advisory firm covering industrial machinery and equipment across sectors. Provides comparable structured transaction support to corporations divesting plant assets.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/alignedasset
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UClJ00tjq7n2u2vwzQoW5piA
• Facebookfacebook.com/AlignedAsset
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/aligned-asset-group

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

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 Aligned Asset Group