LOS ANGELES — www.Xbiz.com reports that Penthouse Media Group is seeking dismissal of a case filed by Broadstream Capital Partners alleging that Penthouse breached a deal to acquire Various Inc.- the company that owns and operates AdultFriendFinder.com and other social networking sites — as a joint venture with Broadstream.

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Penthouse purchased Various for $500 million last December. In the suit
Broadstream alleged that Penthouse committed breach of contract, breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, breach of fiduciary duty and constructive fraud.

According to the Xbiz story, Penthouse filed a motion last week to dismiss four of the five counts and that it would challenge the breach of contract complaint by focusing on the nondisclosure agreement portion of the original deal, claiming that it is unenforceable.

Broadstream asserts that during the bidding process, Broadstream “learned that Penthouse directly contacted Various to put in a separate bid,” and “ultimately submitted a bid that was higher than the offer from Broadstream and converted this business opportunity from an opportunity for the joint venture to an opportunity for Penthouse alone.”

Broadstream, in an amended complaint, said that Penthouse CEO Marc Bell [pictured] at one point denied that his company entered into a contract with Broadstream, “claiming instead that the agreement was with one of Bell’s other companies.”

Broadstream said in each of its four claims that the damages would be “believed to be in excess of $20 million.”

Both parties are slated to face Judge Valerie Baker Fairbank on the motions to dismiss when they meet at U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on May 19.