Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner is taking back the bunny after months of negotiations. Playboy Enterprises Inc, the iconic magazine publisher known for its bunny ears and centrefold photo spreads of naked women, plans to go private in a deal that values the company at $207 million.
The deal, which Playboy announced on Monday, means that Hefner, 84, would co-own the publishing company that he founded in 1953 with the first issue of Playboy magazine, featuring a partially nude photograph of Marilyn Monroe.
Icon Acquisition Holdings L.P., which Hefner controls, plans to buy Playboy’s shares along with Rizvi Traverse Management LLC. Playboy has about $115 million in debt.
Hefner owns about 70 per cent of Playboy’s Class A common stock and 28 per cent of its Class B stock. He and another large shareholder, Plainfield Asset Management, plan to transfer their shares in the deal.
Icon is offering shareholders $6.15 per share.
—Reuters