New York- Penthouse International, publisher of adult magazine Penthouse, is making an online push with the purchase of iBill, a troubled payment processor for X-rated Web sites.

Penthouse says the $23.5 million acquisition, which includes the assumption of $20 million in debt, will allow it to offer iBill clients access to the Penthouse brands and generate new revenue sources for Penthouse. A majority shareholder in Penthouse and an affiliate of an unnamed major U.S. insurance company provided financial backing for the deal.

Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based iBill has been a huge burden for its Atlanta-based parent, InterCept Inc., which bought the company in April 2002 for $115 million. Because “chargebacks” are so common among patrons of pornography sites–with customers disputing the fees and asking for refunds–credit-card companies MasterCard and Visa classified iBill as a “high-risk” merchant and started charging it higher fees. iBill’s processing volume plunged sharply, leading InterCept to warn in January of an earnings shortfall.