As first reported by Michael November 17, the acquisition by Penthouse of Palo Alto based Various, Inc., the owner of AdultFriendFinder has been confirmed.

According to a NY Times report, the buying price was $500 million. Penthouse CEO Marc Bell said that Penthouse’s goal was to provide consumers, particularly 18-to-34-year-old men, with a wide variety of sex-related offerings and that the acquisition of Various Inc. would assist them with this.

AdultFriendFinder made headlines last week when the site settled with the Federal Trade Commission other allegations that pop-ups used in advertising the site were “without consumer consent was unfair, and violated the FTC Act.”

Various Inc. owns a variety of dating related sites, including non-adult dating sites and even a Christian dating site called BigChurch.com.

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The rumors keep flying with the AdultFriendFinder deal we’ve been writing about (see update here).

No sale has yet been closed, but not due to a lack of a willing seller. We’ve gotten confirmation, from a new source, that their annual revenues are “over $300 million.” And we’re now hearing EBITDA numbers in the $100 million/year range. Penthouse seems to be the only serious bidder for the company, but they are clearly talking to a lot of potential buyers. They seem to be ready to sell for a little as $300 million, which suggests founder Andrew Conru wants out of the smut business, and fast.

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More on the acquisition rumor from yesterday - another source now says they were acquired by Penthouse Media Group, and the price was closer to $500 million. Whether or not a transaction has occured is still somewhat vague, but it seems clear from multiple sources now that Various, Inc., the parent company to Adult FriendFinder and other sites, has at least been trying to sell itself aggressively.

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Update: Penthouse Media Group may be the buyer.

The world’s basest online dating site may have had a major liquidity event. Palo Alto based Various, Inc., which owns AdultFriendFinder and scores of other sites, has been acquired, says a source with knowledge of the deal. This is a single source rumor, but the quality of the source suggests, as it has in the past, that the rumor is accurate.

The company, which was founded by Andrew Conru, is rumored to now have revenues in excess of $300 million annually. The acquisition price is said to be 3x revenue, or around $1 billion.

We’re digging now for confirmation of the deal, and to find out who the buyer is. There’s a recent article on the company with deep background information here.

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