WILMINGTON, Del. – Hoping to cut its debt load in half by offloading shareholders and restructuring liabilities totaling between $500 million and $1 billion, FriendFinder Networks Inc. on Tuesday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

According to a restructuring plan filed with the court, FFN plans to emerge from the reorganization bankruptcy in January 2014 as a private company controlled by founders Lars Mapstead and Andrew Conru. Mapstead and Conru sold FriendFinder to Penthouse Media Group in 2007 for $401 million. At the time, Penthouse Media Group was owned by Marc Bell and Daniel Staton, who acquired PMG by leveraging an 89-percent stake in the debt load of Penthouse magazine founder Bob Guccione’s General Media Inc. to force General Media into a Chapter 11 reorganization in 2004.

After acquiring FriendFinder, Bell and Staton changed PMG’s name to FriendFinder Networks Inc. and took the company public in 2011, generating $50 million in the initial public offering. NASDAQ delisted the stock in August 2013 after the company was unable to maintain a minimum common-stock price of $1 per share or a minimum market value of $15 million.

Part of FFN’s restructuring plan includes a settlement that will wipe out FFN shares owned by Bell and Staton, who together hold about 34 percent of the company’s common stock and about $10.6 million in cash-pay second-lien notes.

Court documents indicate more than 80 percent of FFN’s lien-holders have agreed to support the restructuring of more than $550 million in first- and second-lien notes. The proposed reorganization will award first-lien note-holders equivalent new liens plus additional cash or notes; second-lien note-holders — primarily Mapstead and Conru — will receive “substantially all” of the reorganized company’s common stock.

If approved by the court, the plan will cut FFN’s secured debt by about $300 million, the bankruptcy filing indicated.

“The agreement with the overwhelming majority of our noteholders will allow FriendFinder Networks to refinance our long-term debt, permit us to reinvest in our business and position some of the strongest brands in the market for additional growth,” FFN Chief Executive Officer Anthony Previte noted in a prepared statement.

In the bankruptcy filing, FFN blamed its dismal performance overall — most recently exemplified by a revenue drop of $293.7 million, or 10.1 percent, in the second quarter of 2013 alone — on sharp decreases in the financial performance of its network of dating sites. The network, which showed a revenue decrease of 17.6 percent in Q2 2013, includes both mainstream and adult-oriented websites.

In a Tuesday-afternoon memo, FFN assured affiliates their revenues would not be affected by the Chapter 11 reorganization.

“By reducing the debt, the company will have more resources to improve the websites and mobile services — and make you more money for your traffic….” the memo stated. “The company is still profitable, just not enough to support the original level of debt.

“Here’s what really matters: There will be no changes to the affiliate program and your affiliate checks have the highest priority,” the statement continued. “In short, you should see no change in the way we work together. The websites and mobile services will continue unaffected. In fact, new features and services will continue to be rolled out as before.”