Gawker: valleywag, various inc.

Penthouse Porn IPO to Pay for Adult FriendFinder Founder's Car

Owen Thomas — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 13:00:00 EST

Andrew Conru, a geeky mechanical engineer turned porn baron who founded one of the Web's raciest personals site, made out well when Penthouse bought Adult FriendFinder. He even unloaded a $125,000 car on the operation.

Such are the kind of details emerging from FriendFinder Networks's S-1 filing. The disclosure, a precursor to an initial public offering, shows a business far less sexy than its brands would suggest.

Penthouse Media Group bought Various Inc. from Conru last year for $500 million, and assumed the name of its best-known website. Dropping "Penthouse" makes financial sense; Internet revenues from Adult FriendFinder and other websites account for most of the combined company's revenues. The company, which borrowed heavily to buy Conru's company, owes $420 million; the IPO would raise $460 million, most of which would go to pay off that debt. It is possible FriendFinder's lenders might foreclose on the company before it manages to go public.

Conru, at least, seems well taken care of. FriendFinder even bought a car from him for $125,000. The business rationale for the purchase was never explained. The vehicle is now worth $95,000. Who will make up that loss? FriendFinder's prospective investors. A bizarre twist to a bizarre startup saga: Isn't the sale of a company the moment when a founder goes out and buys an expensive car?

Andrew Conru denies church-lady romance, but not Adult FriendFinder exit

Owen Thomas — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 15:20:00 EDT

There goes a perfectly entertaining rumor: Adult FriendFinder founder Andrew Conru has written in to deny that he's involved with a woman named Lois, as commenter rumourone had claimed. Amusingly, rumourone had gone to some trouble in constructing the fantasy, picking up factual bits like Conru's interest in fish farming. The part that Conru didn't confirm or deny: That he's planning to leave Adult FriendFinder, now owned by Penthouse, very soon.

Porn millionaire Andrew Conru reportedly engaged to church lady (Update: He's not)

Owen Thomas — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 15:40:06 EDT

Whatever happened to Andrew Conru, the porn baron of Palo Alto? After selling Various Inc., the parent company of X-rated singles site Adult FriendFinder, to Penthouse for $500 million in December, he's getting his personal life in order, commenter rumourone informs us. He's reportedly still working at Various, but planning his departure. (Will Penthouse disclose this fact when it files to go public, largely on the strength of Conru's Web businesses?) Also, he's engaged to a "devout Lutheran" named Lois. Ironic, given his porn profiteering? Hardly. Conru also launched — and sold along with FriendFinder — a religious social network, BigChurch.com, where he supposedly met Lois. Update: Conru has written in to deny the Lois story. The full Conru tale from rumourone follows:

Andrew is doing well. He feels a little tramatized by the adult industry-imagine the hours he has worked and imagine the effect those images have had on his mental state.
He is spending time evaluating his new life, its new phase, and enjoying the simple things he once enjoyed. He is rediscovering a normal life. All the while, he is still working Various, and planning his permanant departure.

Andrew is very interested in aquaculture, he has purchased a small boat, and is somewhere in the Pacific ocean at this very moment, accompanied by his fiance-a devout Lutheran. Lois is a woman of high moral reproach that he met at bigchurch.com. She is not very attractive, but he likes her for her innerds.

They are building a treehouse in the forest. He is chopping wood for the winter, and she is canning jams and beans. Although they are starting late in life, they are planning a family of 16-some of the children are from her 4 previous marriages.

Andrew reports that he has found his "quintessential great find", and is very happy.

Adult FriendFinder looking for multiple partners?

Nicholas Carlson — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 18:20:37 EST

Right before Penthouse acquired Andrew Conru's Adult FriendFinder for $500 million, a rumor spread that FriendFinder was making offers itself to buy smaller porn sites. Sources told Adult Entertainment Today AFF made offers on two sites that might not have large profits but "have attracted media attention and large numbers of regular visitors." Will the rollup strategy continue under Penthouse, or bring FriendFinder's nascent buying spree to an end? Let us know if Conru has made you an offer you can't refuse.

Penthouse buys Adult FriendFinder

Owen Thomas — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 13:29:27 EST

Congratulations, Andrew Conru: Danni Ashe is now your coworker. As the porn-magazine business quietly biodegrades in the ashbin of history, the founder of Adult FriendFinder has sold his company, Various Inc., to Penthouse for $500 million. This despite his earlier denials. The price actually seems low, considering Various's projected revenues this year of $340 million. But the porn business has always suffered from a market discount, as distaste thins the ranks of willing investors. FriendFinder's troubles with the Federal Trade Commission, settled one day before the sale was closed last Friday, can't have helped. What's next for Adult FriendFinder's new owner?

A Penthouse IPO, promised by CEO Marc Bell last year to happen sometime in 2008. We hear he's shooting for April, now that he has a bigger Internet business to flog, one with the requisite buzzwords like "social networking" One thing he'll now have to disclose to investors: Besides Danni.com, Penthouse owns Christian dating site BigChurch.com.

Adult FriendFinder sale to Penthouse now just "sweet"

Mary Jane Irwin — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 08:19:03 EST

"It would be sweet if it were true," demurred porn baron Andrew Conru, when we asked if the Palo Alto porn baron had sold FriendFinder Inc., the parent company of porn-laden classifieds site Adult FriendFinder. Sweet indeed, then. Multiple sources have told us Various was sold on Friday, and one confirms that Penthouse is the buyer. A tipster says that there's an all-hands meeting today at 2 p.m. to inform employees of "exciting times ahead for all." Anyone want to head down to the Cinemark theater in Palo Alto to find out and tell us? After the jump, the email to employees.

There are exciting times ahead for all of us here at FriendFinder, Inc. In order to share the news and updates with staff all at the same time, we have booked a theatre for tomorrow at 2:00 pm. We are requesting that all staff be present except for the swing/grave shift staff or staff who are normally off on Tuesdays. They are welcome to attend on their own accord or their managers can brief them in the evening or following day. Below is the address of the theatre, which is on the corner of El Camino and Page Mill. We look forwarding to seeing all the staff and sharing our plans for 2008.
Cinemark Palo Alto Cinearts 2
3000 El Camino Real Blvd.., #6
Palo Alto, Ca 94306
Auditorium 1

Natalie Cedeno

Director of Human Resources
FriendFinder, Inc., Medley.com, Inc.
STREAMray, Inc, Fast Cupid.com, Inc.
and Various, Inc.
(650) [REDACTED] Direct Line
(650) [REDACTED] Fax Line

Adult FriendFinder sale: "Sweet if it were true"

Megan McCarthy — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 15:33:54 EST

Andrew Conru, the porn baron of Palo Alto, is denying rumors that he has sold either his company, Various Inc., or its best-known property, Adult FriendFinder. "We haven't sold anything," he said. "It would be sweet if it were true." Conru has never raised outside money for his site and still owns 90 percent of Various. That means that any sale is really his call. But then there's this. "We're focusing on the growth of the company," Conru said. Here's a tip: Whenever you hear a CEO saying something as anodyne and meaningless like that, expect a sale any minute. TechCrunch now says Penthouse might be the buyer, for $500 million. Heard anything more? Let us know.

Did Andrew Conru sell Adult FriendFinder for $100 million?

Owen Thomas — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 11:59:17 EST

Andrew Conru is the accidental porn baron, the mild-mannered geek who found himself running a massive X-rated classifieds website, Adult FriendFinder, from sedate Palo Alto. Rumor has it that he just sold the site, one of his many properties, for $100 million. Michael Arrington reports that he may have sold his company, Various Inc., for $1 billion. A nice headline, but we doubt it. What Conru has said in the past is that he wants to take Various public. The Adult FriendFinder site, however, has been a sticking point for investment bankers, who don't want to try to sell porn to the investing public. For Conru's ambitions, divesting Adult FriendFinder would make perfect sense, since the rest of Various — which includes much more respectable sites like BigChurch — could then IPO to cash in on the social-networking craze.