The online adult entertainment grotto just got a little more crowded. Penthouse Media Group, Inc. (PMGI), the parent company for Penthouse magazine and the owner of extensive online properties, announced Wednesday that it is spending $500 million to acquire Various, Inc., the owner of numerous social networking sites, including AdultFriendFinder.com, one of the Web’s leading dating sites. The transaction is one of the largest ever for an adult business.
“Various is an attractive addition to our already strong print platform, and one that puts Penthouse in a very robust position in the ever-growing online social networking arena,” said Penthouse Media Group CEO Marc Bell said in a statement. “We like where the business combination puts us and that this transaction will enhance PMGI’s current and future licensing, print and interactive ventures.”
In addition to AdultFriendFinder.com, Various owns and operates a network of more than 25 other popular sites, including JewishFriendFinder.com, OutPersonals.com, and Cams.com, which advertises itself as “The Wildest Live Webcams.”
Clearly, a leading attractor for Penthouse Media Group is the staggeringly large member base that Various commands. An estimated 260 million people at one time or another have joined a Various Web site, including the 18 million alone that are members of AdultFriendFinder. The company’s paid subscriber total is far smaller, just 1.2 million, but that still translates into a substantial revenue boost for Penthouse Media. In fact, the companies predict that PMGI’s purchase will make it the largest adult entertainment company in the world, with projected revenues for 2007 of $340 million.
In our telephone interview, Bell acknowledged the importance of the customer base that Various brings to the table. “They’ve got tremendous market reach,” he said. “Social networking is clearly the future of adult entertainment, particularly in the mobile space, and we’re excited to be joining forces with…