Playboy is exploring the sale of not only the iconic Playboy Mansion but the entire company, sources told the
Wall Street Journal on Thursday.
Playboy's founder Hugh Hefner, 89, still owns one-third of the company, which he took private in 2011, noted the newspaper. Moelis & Co., a private investment bank, and private equity firm Rizvi Traverse Management are currently advising the company.
The deal that took Playboy private valued the company then at $207 million, but the Journal said it could be sold now for at least $500 million.
USA Today said the Internet has helped lead to the shrinking of Playboy's media footprint, as circulation of its magazine has dropped from 5.6 million at its height in the 1970s to less than a million today.
The magazine moved away from its fully-nude models for the first time in its 63-year history starting with its March issues in hopes of drawing a younger audience. Playboy's television and online products have not been attracting a new audience as hoped.
CNN reported in January that Playboy put up the mansion in Los Angeles for sale for $200 million with the one hitch that the buyer must allow Hefner to live there for the rest of his life. Playboy chief executive Scott Flanders told CNN as some inquired about the mansion, they also asked about the company, too.
"Previously we engaged them in the fall to grow the media business and to separately list the mansion," Flanders said to CNN. "And as part of that they had inquiries as to whether the company could be sold. And several well-funded entities have expressed interest."
Flanders told CNN that a "multi-channel brand management company" domestically and an international media company have expressed interest so far, but declined to be more specific.
The Journal reported that from documents it viewed, Playboy made $38 million from media components, and $55 million from licensing its brand to other companies in 2015.
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