January 9, 2000

West Linn, OR – Brentwood Wine Company, a major Internet reseller of high end wine and wine accessories, announced today that it had acquired the assets of AuctionVine.com, a leader in business-to-consumer Internet wine auction sales. This consolidation marks the first major merger in the Internet fine wine auction arena. "The goal is to build on both companies’ strengths to better serve the needs of fine wine resellers and consumers in an expanded market." said David A. Parker, Brentwood Wine President and CEO.

AuctionVine has been connecting commercial wine sellers and individual buyers via Internet auction since 1997 and has developed a vendor list that includes some of the world’s top resellers. Brentwood Wine Company has been running continuous fine wine auctions on the Internet since 1998 and is one of the largest licensed wine and wine accessory retailers in the northwestern United States.

Brentwood Wine Company has developed wholesale and import channels that allow the smooth flow of wine from diverse sources to consumers, while adhering to applicable laws. "AuctionVine vendors were formerly responsible for all aspects of billing and shipping, including navigating the myriad three-tier sales and interstate shipping laws," said Parker. "Brentwood Wine will use its expertise in these areas, relieving vendors of these complex issues." The merger will also give vendors access to the combined customer bases of Brentwood Wine and AuctionVine, one of the largest groups of potential fine wine bidders in the world. And it will give private collectors and consumers access to fine and rare wine from sources that were previously not open to them, such as brokers outside of the United States and wholesalers.

AuctionVine was acquired from the BoxLot Company, a company that owned an auction site and developed networked auction software. "We believe this merger will be good for everyone," said BoxLot CEO, Fred Cary. "Brentwood Wine has the technical know-how and support resources to offer an increasing number of fine wines for auction while providing AuctionVine’s customers and vendors the type of excellent service they have come to expect."

Terms of the sale were not disclosed. No jobs will be affected.

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