LOS ANGELES — Two Wall Street firms have been identified as financers of adult entertainment conglomerate Manwin, according to FOX Business.
Colbeck Capital, a firm affiliated with Goldman Sachs which arranged for $168 million, and Fortress Investment Group, the big hedge fund, injected funding for Manwin, which operates scores of blue-chip brands out of its Burbank, Calif., and Montreal offices.
"Wall Street meets the porn industry," reporter Charlie Gasparino said. "Why do they do this? I guess they make a lot of money."
Manwin operates Playboy Plus in a licensing deal with Beverly Hills, Calif.-based Playboy Enterprises and also owns Digital Playground, Reality Kings, Brazzers and Twistys. In addition, Manwin owns YouPorn, Spankwire, Webcams Tube8, ExtremeTube, KeezMovies, Mofos, ExtremeTube, JuicyBoys and PornHub.
"This is a very controversial company," said Gasporino, noting that the company has been linked to sites that allegedly have pirated material.
Gasparino, who relied on adult veteran Mike South for some inside information for the piece, said that Manwin has told the FBI that its business is "totally legal, and they do not engage in piracy of pornographic content."
