Auctionata’s Talks with Artspace Fall Apart, Leon Black Swooping In to Buy?

Katya Kazakina says that Leon Black will own Artspace.com by the end of the week. The private equity giant is said to be using Phaidon Press as the vehicle to buy Artspace.com which would make it a separate entity from Black’s personal investment in ArtBinder.

Artspace.com’s board of directors had been in talks for several weeks about a merger with Auctionata, a Berlin-based online-only auctioneer of fine art and collectibles, according to two people familiar with the matter. Those negotiations fell apart last week, the people said.

Auctionata valued Artspace at just under $5 million, one of the people said. The Berlin auctioneer, which will start sales in New York in October, had offered company shares rather than cash, the people said. Phaidon Press’s offer was more appealing because the amount was all cash, they said. […]

“It’s inevitable that there’s going to be consolidation,” said Clayton Press, who teaches art, commerce and technology at New York University. “There’s an extraordinary amount of competition. Businesses are essentially chasing the same buyers, sellers and material.”

Black’s Phaidon Press in Talks to Buy Artspace (Bloomberg)