Penthouse Offers to Buy Playboy

Is it media concentration if no one reads the articles? The owner of Penthouse magazine has offered to buy rival Playboy for $210 million in a move that would bring two of the largest men’s magazines under the same ownership umbrella.

For those who care, Hugh Hefner, the smoking-jacket-robed, Viagra-popping founder of Playboy, would retain editorial control of the magazine and continue to frolic at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles. —JCL

Reuters:

The owner of Penthouse magazine on Thursday offered to buy rival Playboy Enterprises Inc for $210 million, making a bid that was 13 percent above the buyout proposal from Playboy’s iconic founder Hugh Hefner earlier this week.

To sweeten the deal, Penthouse publisher FriendFinder Networks said Hefner is welcome to retain editorial control of Playboy magazine and to continue to reside in the Playboy Mansion—a property valued at roughly $40 million, including art, according RBC Capital Markets estimates.

Hefner “built a cultural icon and he is a cultural icon,” FriendFinder Chief Executive Marc Bell told Reuters in a telephone interview. “He is trying to protect his legacy. We would love nothing more than to help him achieve his goal, protect his legacy and really become a partner.”

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