Pornhub Parent Company Acquired by Canadian Private-Equity Firm

variety.com:

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor MindGeek, the embattled parent company of Pornhub, has a new owner. Ethical Capital Partners (ECP), a private-equity firm based on Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, announced that it has acquired MindGeek.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. ECP says it is managed by a “multidisciplinary team with regulatory, law enforcement, public engagement and finance experience.” Founded in 2004, MindGeek operates a large portfolio of adult entertainment sites, including Pornhub, YouPorn, Redtube, Brazzers, Men.com, Sean Cody, Trans Angels and Nutaku.

The company says it has “industry-leading compliance and content moderation practices” that “set the standard for trust and safety,” claiming it institutes compliance measures “that surpass those of other platforms on the internet.” MindGeek is the target of numerous lawsuits alleging Pornhub has profited by distributing child pornography and nonconsensual sex videos. (MindGeek has said the allegations lack merit.) Last year, Visa and Mastercard both cut off payment processing to TrafficJunky, the advertising arm of MindGeek that sells ads on Pornhub, after a federal court ruling last summer rejected Visa’s request to be removed from a case in which MindGeek is being sued for allegedly distributing child pornography.

The plaintiff in that case alleged Visa knowingly facilitated MindGeek’s ability to monetize the illegal content. In addition, YouTube and Instagram have suspended Pornhub’s accounts on their respective platforms for violations of their policies.