Former Expedia SVP Ted Jansen Appointed CEO at Napa's Inertia Beverage Group

NAPA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Inertia announced today the appointment of Ted Jansen, formerly of Expedia, to the position of Chief Executive Officer. Jansen will assume the role of CEO & President on May 20, 2008 at the wine direct sales, marketing and technology firm located in Napa Valley. Jansen succeeds the company’s entrepreneurial founder, Paul Mabray, who remains as Inertia’s Chief Strategy Officer, overseeing business and product development.

“Ted Jansen is exactly the right leader for Inertia at exactly the right time,” said Bob Ackerman, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Allegis Capital and a lead investor in Inertia. “Jansen’s proven success in the highly competitive travel industry, his executive leadership, and his track records building large, online marketplaces make him the ideal leader to take the company to the next level. We know Ted can build on Inertia's history of innovation and build a company of size and stature, making Inertia the most respected direct-to-consumer and direct-to-trade platform in the wine industry.”

For the past three years, Jansen worked at Expedia.com, one of the world’s top online travel service companies, where he served as Senior Vice President of Product and Retail, Prior to Expedia, Jansen was Vice President at Walt Disney Company where he oversaw online product management and marketing and built Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Online from the ground up.

“The opportunity to lead a company using technology and innovations to bring change in a very traditional industry is exciting,” said Jansen. “The wine industry finds itself in the midst of a revolution that is changing the way consumers, restaurants and retailers procure wines. Inertia is on the innovative edge of providing the tools as well as a new philosophy to help drive that change. I’m looking forward to working with the management team, the Board of Directors, and Inertia’s investors to help realize the opportunities that lay ahead of us.”

Jansen will lead the company and implementation of strategies that leverage technology and market efficiencies to disrupt an antiquated and dysfunctional wine industry supply chain, to provide Inertia’s clients with a high margin, high velocity parallel distribution system for their wines.

“Inertia is experiencing phenomenal growth in all areas,” said Mabray. “Ted’s depth of experience will help us accelerate that growth. I’m excited to work with Ted and together fulfill our goal of being the leading provider of direct sales marketing and technology services for wineries.”

Inertia, based in Napa, California, is the premier provider of web-based technology used by wineries to manage direct sales and marketing. Inertia’s REthink Engine^TM technology enables direct sales and marketing efforts for over 600 wine brands, providing an integrated platform to easily manage all aspects of direct sales to both consumers and the trade. A privately held company based in Napa, Calif., Inertia’s investors include Allegis Capital and Sid R. Bass Associates. More information about Inertia is available at http://www.inertiabev.com.