Playboy approaches Providence Equity about sale

PROVIDENCE – Playboy Enterprises (NYSE: PLA) has reportedly approached Providence Equity Partners and other private equity firms in a search of a buyer.
The asking price: $300 million, according to several news outlets, including the New York Post.
But the Post report noted that with the company’s market capitalization standing at about $100 million, firms such as Rhode Island-based Providence Equity have so far not expressed a willingness to buy.
Chicago-based Playboy, a media company founded by Hugh Hefner that is best known for publishing an adult magazine of the same name, has struggled in recent years as the growing popularity of the Internet and video on demand have eaten into profits.
The name of Providence Equity Partners has popped up several times in the last few months in a number of well-publicized dealings.
In April, the firm was one of four private-equity firms that reportedly joined forces to back the founders of Skype in their attempt to buy it back from online auction company eBay. The bid was rebuffed.
Then last month, it was reported that Providence Equity Partners would continue to hold a stake in the popular video streaming Web site Hulu, even though Walt Disney Co. was taking an equity stake in the site.
Providence Equity Partners Inc. is a global private investment firm – based in Providence, with offices in Los Angeles, New York City, London, Hong Kong and New Delhi – that has about $22 billion in equity commitments. The firm has invested in more than 100 companies, operating in nearly two dozen nations, since its founding in 1989. Additional information is available at www.provequity.com.