Attempts to contact Jim Holland, Backcountry.com chief executive officer and co-founder, were unsuccessful Monday. However, in a prepared statement, Holland said "there is no better ally for Backcountry.com than Liberty Media."

"Their experience, resources and philosophy will enable us to improve our services and capacity on every level while maintaining the independent spirit and culture that has been integral to Backcountry.com's success. We are excited to work with the Liberty team," Holland said.

Backcountry.com's president and co-founder, John Bresee, described Liberty Media as "a pioneer in e-commerce. We're excited to take Backcountry.com to the next level with them."

Michael Zeisser, senior vice president of Liberty Media, said in a prepared statement that Backcountry.com is "a fast-growing leader in e-commerce and a pioneer in social commerce."

"We look forward to driving collaboration among Backcountry and its world-class outdoor brands and Liberty's existing e-commerce and television companies," Zeisser said. "This investment in Backcountry represents another step in our stated strategy to seek acquisitions of commerce companies that have unique value propositions, outstanding management teams and strong track records to drive the continued growth of the group of assets attributed to Liberty Interactive."

---

E-mail: bwallace@desnews.com