The porn group WGCZ is taking over the media house Private Media. With this acquisition, the WGCZ Group, which up to now has been operating nearly in secrecy, further expands its position in the porn business. In the meantime, the company, which also operates XVideos.com, is considered to be the most important competitor of the MindGeek Group from Luxembourg.
The Czech Republic-based WGCZ Group has been buying well-known porn and erotic brands for years and operates XVideos.com, one of the most important competitors of Pornhub and xHamster. WGCZ also includes the well-known porn studio BangBros, Legal Porno and the DDF Network. In 2018 the company took over the insolvent Penthouse Group.
Private Media was one of the major porn brands in Europe and was able to achieve high-profit margins, especially in the heyday of porn magazines and during the peak period of the VHS and DVD era. As a premium brand, the studio was able to charge prices of $80-100 per film. Originally based in Sweden, the company did diversify over the years throughout Europe and is now based in Barcelona, Spain.
Unlike Gamma, Mindgeek, and xHamster, WGCZ is rather publicity-shy. From a court case in Nevada, it is known that the group is apparently run and presumably also owned by the twins Stephane and Malore Pacaud. The Pacauds had become wealthy in the domain name business in the late nineties. Otherwise, little is known about them.