MindGeek, which operates the Montreal-based pornography site PornHub, is being purchased by private equity firm Ethical Capital Partners of Ottawa.
Pricing was not disclosed.
Founded in 2022, Ethical Capital Partners (ECP) is a private equity firm that claims to put ethics at the heart of its investment decisions. Among its founders are Solomon Friedman and Fady Mansour, two defense attorneys, and Derek Ogden, a former RCMP officer who in the past chaired a chain of cannabis shops, according to the Globe and Mail.
Relying on the press release announcing the transaction published Thursday afternoon, ECB intends to rely on the ethical nature of MindGeek to monetize its comparative advantages.
“At ECP, we look for innovative and ethical companies that operate at the frontier of new and evolving sectors. With MindGeek, we have identified a dynamic technology brand that is built on foundations of trust, security and compliance. With ECP’s resources and deep expertise in regulation, enforcement, public engagement and finance, we have a unique opportunity to strengthen what already exists,” said Fady Mansour, Partner and founder of ECP.
It was impossible to speak to MM. Mansour and Friedman on Thursday.
MindGeek is a controversial company that has been accused in the past of uploading child pornography and sexual assault. Visa and Mastercard have cut ties with the internet broadcaster after an investigation by the New York Times published in December 2020. The company is facing legal proceedings in several jurisdictions, recalls the Toronto daily.
Founded in 2007, PornHub is now visited daily by more than 130 million adults, according to the statement announcing the transaction. Besides PornHub, Midgeek operates YouPorn, Redtube, Brazzers, Men sites. com, Sean Cody, Trans Angels and Nutaku.
An extremely discreet company, MindGeek had been the subject of a The Press in 2016. Journalist Maxime Bergeron had drawn up his business model. Basically, the company had its IT specialists in Montreal, its subsidiary that received revenues was established in Dublin and its head office in Luxembourg.
Former MindGeek boss Feras Antoon, who resigned from his post in June 2022, was suspected in the past of taking advantage of inside information to enrich himself when the company Amaya bought the gaming platform in PokerStars line. No charges were ever filed against him.
Mr. Antoon had a huge house built in the Saraguay district, in the northwest of Montreal. To erect it, the porn mogul had 220 trees cut down near the Bois-de-Saraguay nature park in 2018. Put up for sale when the setbacks were piling up by MindGeek, the property was burned down in April 2021.
In an interview with the magazine Vanity Fairin January 2022, Mr. Antoon said he believed his property had been targeted by extremist religious groups.
The businessman also had to explain himself in April 2021 before the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics of the House of Commons about pornography in line hosted in Canada.
Today, MindGeek is made elsewhere, if we are to believe the content of the press release. “The company provides trusted environments to enable users to have a safe online experience, and to strengthen its communities by celebrating diversity, inclusion and expression,” it reads.
According to Globe and Mail, three of the founders of ECP wanted to acquire MindGeek as early as 2021 through the company Bruinen. According to an investment memorandum obtained by the newspaper, they were prepared to pay US$475 million. Also according to this document, MindGeek would have generated 482 million US dollars in revenue and 186 million US dollars in earnings before interest, taxes and amortization in 2020.