FriendFinder Networks Inc., owner of Penthouse magazine and thousands of adult-oriented social-networking sites, said it has completed a $551 million round of financing.
FriendFinder Chief Executive Marc Bell said the company is preparing the launch of "three big initiatives," though he declined to specify plans. "We're always looking to raise capital to grow the business," Mr. Bell said in an interview.
FriendFinder still has an eye on Playboy Enterprises, Inc., publisher of the eponymous magazine. In July, Playboy founder and controlling shareholder Hugh Hefner made an offer to take the company private in a deal that valued the company at about $185 million. Shortly after Mr. Hefner's offer became public, FriendFinder offered to buy Playboy for $210 million. Mr. Hefner has said he isn't interested in selling.
A special committee of the Playboy board is reviewing Mr. Hefner's proposal. It's unclear if the board also is considering the FriendFinder offer.
"We remain very interested in seeing something happen between the two companies," Mr. Bell said.
FriendFinder, based in Boca Raton, Fla., owns and operates over 30,000 websites, many of them for linking people romantically.
Early this year, citing market conditions, FriendFinder postponed an initial public offering that it hoped would bring as much as $200 million in net proceeds to help pay down debt. FriendFinder was carrying $471 million in debt as of Sept. 30, 2009, according to a January securities filing setting the terms of the planned IPO.
FriendFinder lost $27.4 million in the first nine months of 2009 on $244 million in revenue, according to the same filing.
Mr. Bell said FriendFinder this year will generate about $345 million in revenue with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $100 million
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