Mindgeek, the parent company of Pornhub, acquired by the Canadian investment fund Ethical Capital Partners

The Canadian private equity firm Ethical Capital Partners announced on Thursday March 16 the acquisition of Mindgeek, parent company of the largest ****ographic site in the world, ****hubmarked in recent years by child ****ography scandals.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but ECP says it wants to boost Mindgeek’s reputation and position it as a “leader in the fight against illegal content on the Internet”. MindGeek, headquartered in Luxembourg but with major offices in Montreal, has been the subject of several lawsuits in recent years alleging that it profited from the distribution of child ****ography and videos of sexual acts. non-consensual sex – charges the company denies.

Child ****ography and rape videos

“We believe that the MindGeek team and all MindGeek platforms operate by placing trust and security at the heart of everything they do”said Sarah Bain, one of the founders of the Ottawa-based firm ECP. “We will engage with stakeholders, including content creators, governments and industry, to address the disconnect between how MindGeek operates and what the public perceives of this industry and these platforms”she added in a press release.

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Founded in 2004, MindGeek operates an extensive portfolio of adult sites, including ****hub, You****, Redtube and Men.com. The Internet **** market leader, however, has faced heavy criticism since the New York Times published an article in December 2020 in which ****hub was accused of uploading illegal content, including child ****ography and rape videos. This has led Canadian parliamentarians to question its leaders over alleged abuse, while companies Mastercard and Visa have suspended payments on the ****hub site. Mindgeek’s top executives resigned in June 2022.