FriendFinder Networks Inc., the Boca Raton, Fla. owner of Penthouse magazine, said it will offer $210 million to acquire Playboy Enterprises Inc., challenging a bid from Hugh Hefner to take the company private.
The bid pits FriendFinder Chief Executive Officer Marc Bell against Hefner, Playboy’s 84-year-old founder, who offered $123 million to acquire all shares he doesn’t already own. Hefner’s bid values all Playboy shares at about $185 million, making the FriendFinder bid a 14 percent premium to Hefner’s offer.
In a posting on Twitter this week, Hefner addressed the potential for a competing bid from FriendFinder. “Penthouse really isn’t in the picture,” Hefner said. “I’m buying, not selling.”
Playboy shareholders have taken action in response to Hefner’s buyout proposal. A shareholder lawsuit, filed in Chicago this week, called Hefner’s bid “inadequate.”
• Read the full Bloomberg News story.
