Canadian private equity firm Ethical Capital Partners (ECP) has bought tech company MindGeek, owner of PornHub, YouPorn, Brazzers, Redtube, Men.com, Sean Cody, Trans Angels and Nutaku. The statement was published on the fund's website, the amount of the transaction was not disclosed.
ECP partners and consultants will work with MindGeek and play a leading role in the fight against illegal content on the Internet, the statement said. It also states that MindGeek is a dynamic technology company that operates adult entertainment platforms with "the finest selection" of "award-winning" content and performers.
ECP co-founder Fadi Mansour said the fund is looking for "innovative and ethical companies" that operate in emerging industries.
“At MindGeek, we have discovered a dynamic technology brand that is built on a foundation of trust, safety, and compliance, and with ECP’s resources and broad experience in regulation, enforcement, public engagement, and finance, we have a unique opportunity to strengthen what already exists.”
MindGeek was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Luxembourg.
Pornhub previously announced a tightening of its video publishing policy after The New York Times published an article in early December 2020 about how the site makes money from violence against minors and distributes videos without their consent, including with violence. Following the release of the article, payment processors Mastercard and Visa investigated MindGeek and confirmed the "violation of standards" and the publication of prohibited content. Then the systems forbade users to make payments with their cards on the porn site. In addition, YouTube and Instagram have banned Pornhub accounts on their platforms for violating policies. MindGeek denied the allegations, while PornHub claimed it did not allow child sexual abuse videos to be posted.