Thanks to Will76 for reminding me of the AFF / Ibill connection - again...who much does Ibill owe you?
2002: Intercept buys
ibill for 120 million: " But when Atlanta-based InterCept acquired
iBill for $120 million in 2002, it immediately encountered problems. New rules from Visa made it more complicated and costly to process adult website transactions, and "accounts dropped like flies," says Dugas. Meanwhile MasterCard levied $5.85 million in fines against
iBill for an unusually high volume of "charge backs" -- consumer-disputed charges -- though InterCept managed to recoup most of the fine from
iBill's previous owners.
Porn Billing Leak Exposes Buyers
3/24/2004 Penthouse buys
Ibill from intercept for 23.5 million plus assumption of 20 million
ibill is obligated to.
Artcile 3/31/2004 says "
iBill has no corporate or bank debt outstanding.
iBill and Penthouse International's real estate assets are unaffected by the current reorganization of General Media and subsidiaries. "
" On a pro forma basis, had
iBill been consolidated with Penthouse for the full fiscal year ended December 31, 2003, Penthouse consolidated revenue would have increased by approximately 197%. "
iBill Attends First Industry Event Since Acquisition by Penthouse. | Company Activities & Management > Company Structures & Ownership from AllBusiness.com
Penthouse buys
ibill which has no outstanding debt and to give Penthouse (which is losing tons of money) value.
"
iBill processes online website orders. First Data is a billion dollar company that gave notice earlier last year that we would not extend iBill’s merchant agreement. It seems that
iBill sought court intervention to require us to continue processing after the expiration of
iBill's agreement, in lake September 2004. The court denied
iBill's request for a preliminary injunction against First Data. First Data has not processed payments for
iBill since that date."
New York Daily Times
October 2004: " Care Concepts financed the recent acquisition of General Media by issuing new preferred stock and convertible notes in the amount of roughly $16.4 million, the release stated. " " Care Concepts’ announcement came following a stormy month for the company, which was forced to delay its acquisition of payment processor
iBill and had its stock delisted from the American Stock Exchange for a variety of public-interest concerns. " " Under the new purchase agreement, PET Capital Partners Inc., the company that owned General Media’s debt, will retain voting common stock and a majority of the total common stock equity of the company. PET’s Marc H. Bell and Daniel C. Staton will assume the day-to-day operations of the magazine. "
Care Concepts Completes Penthouse Publisher Purchase - XBIZ.com
" With its acquisition of
iBill, Penthouse believes that numerous economic synergies will exist between
iBill and its media companies, including the ability to offer
iBill clients access to the PENTHOUSE brands and, at the same time, generate new sources of recurring revenue for Penthouse."
Penthouse Acquires Internet Billing Company LLC ``iBill'' | Business Wire | Find Articles at BNET
“We are very excited to welcome Various and its employees as a part of the Penthouse family,” said Penthouse Media Group CEO Marc H. Bell. “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. We like where the business combination puts us and that this transaction will enhance PMGI’s current and future licensing, print and interactive ventures.”
Penthouse Media Group Purchases Adult Friend Finder for $500 Million - XBIZ.com
" Penthouse is continuing its acquisition program as it continues to consolidate the industry into one global brand."
AdultFriendFinder.com finally sold out - $500M Web 2.0 Money: The Money & Business Behind the Web 2.0 Innovations
Segway /Ibill connection. - GFY Webmaster Board (in particular post #40 and a few others) explains where a lot of ex-ibill employees ended up.