FriendFinder Networks, the owner of Penthouse magazine, said on Thursday that it had offered $210 million for Playboy Enterprises, seeking to top a preliminary offer by Hugh M. Hefner.
FriendFinder said that it would be willing to work with Mr. Hefner, the bon vivant founder of the Playboy empire, giving him editorial control and letting him live in the Playboy mansion. FriendFinder would also keep in place Playboy’s senior management.
Mr. Hefner has said that he was interested only in taking Playboy private — an offer that valued the company at about $185 million — and not selling out his majority stake, according to Playboy’s announcement on Monday.
At $210 million, FriendFinder’s preliminary offer is 10 percent higher than Mr. Hefner’s, which is backed by the private equity firm Rizvi Traverse Management. FriendFinder said it was in discussions with potential lenders about lining up the necessary financing for a deal.
In a letter to Playboy’s board, FriendFinder’s chief executive, Marc H. Bell, said that a merger of the two would unite Playboy’s globally known brands with his own company’s brands and technologies. (Beyond Penthouse, FriendFinder also runs several social networks and adult-content Web sites.)
“We believe our proposal is in the best interests of Playboy Enterprises and its minority stockholders,” Mr. Bell wrote in the letter.
FriendFinder, based in Boca Raton, Fla., had previously attempted to go public, but withdrew its initial public offering filing earlier this year.
The firm is being advised in its offer by Imperial Capital
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