Playboy magazine owner Playboy Enterprises is exploring options that include going public through a merger with a blank-check acquisition company, according to people familiar with the matter.
A deal with a blank-check firm - referred to on Wall Street as a special purpose acquisition company - could result in Playboy's return to the stock market, nine years after it went private in a US$207 million deal led by its late founder Hugh Hefner and private equity firm Rizvi Traverse Management.Since then, the company's print sales have fallen further.
The sources cautioned that it is possible no deal will materialize. Playboy Chief Executive Ben Kohn and Rizvi Traverse Chief Investment Officer Suhail Rizvi did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In recent years, Playboy has expanded beyond its media business to refashion itself as a lifestyle brand. It has also licensed its brand and logo to others. Playboy did away with full frontal nudity starting in its March 2016 issue, but reversed course a year later.
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