Hugh Hefner To Buy Playboy Private at $185 Million

Hugh Hefner wants to take Playboy private, and with a stock that has been languishing for the last four years it sure seems like investors should just let him.

Photo: Hugh Hefner To Buy Playboy Private at 5 Million

On Monday Playboy Enterprises founder Hugh Hefner, who already owns 69.5% of Playboy's Class A shares and 27.7% of its Class B shares, offered to buy the portion of the company he does not own for $5.50 per share in cash. The offer, from Hefner and planned partner Rizvi Traverse Management, values the company at $185 million, Forbes reports.

According to The Guardian, Hefner, 84, is renowned for hosting younger girlfriends at his Playboy mansion in California. Until recently, his daughter, Christie Hefner, was chief executive of Playboy, but she stood down in January as the business struggled.

In a statement, Playboy said it would form a special committee of independent directors to assess Hefner's proposal. The company said that, in a letter, Hefner had insisted he would not sell to a third party out of concern for "the PEI [Playboy] brand, the editorial direction of the magazine and PEI's legacy".