Jan. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Playboy Enterprises Inc. agreed to be taken private for $207 million by founder Hugh M. Hefner, who increased his bid to gain full control of the 58-year-old magazine publisher amid slumping circulation and losses.
Hefner, 84, is offering to buy the Class A stock and Class B shares he doesn’t already own for $6.15 per share, representing an 18 percent premium over the Class B closing price of $5.20 a share on Jan. 7, the company said in a statement today. Hefner said in July he would pay $5.50 a share in cash for the stock.
The decision by a Playboy board committee to support Hefner ends a contest for control with FriendFinder Networks Inc., owner of Penthouse adult magazine, which in July said it would offer $210 million for Chicago-based Playboy. The board determined Hefner’s bid is in the company’s best interests, Sol Rosenthal, a board member, said in a statement.
Playboy’s agreement is with Icon Acquisition Holdings LP, a limited partnership controlled by Hefner. Icon has received commitments from Rizvi Traverse Management LLC and Jefferies & Co. to finance the transaction. Hefner owns 69.5 percent of Playboy’s Class A stock and 27.7 percent of the B stock.
“This agreement will give us the resources and flexibility to return Playboy to its unique position and to further expand our business around the world,” Hefner said in a statement.
Playboy Class B shares rose 89 cents, or 17 percent, to $6.10 at 9:38 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange trading. The stock increased 63 percent last year. |
发表于 2011-1-10 11:53
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