Hefner Capital offers US$100 million, equity to buy Playboy brand

Hefner Capital, a firm led by Hugh Hefner’s son Cooper, has expressed interest in acquiring the Playboy brand from PLBY Group, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Cooper Hefner made the non-binding overture for all of Playboy’s brand assets, which includes intellectual property associated with Playboy, to PLBY’s board, led by chairman Suhail Rizvi, on Monday (Oct 21), according to a correspondence reviewed by Bloomberg News.

The proposal, which is subject to due diligence among other considerations, involves Hefner forming an entity to purchase Playboy’s brand assets from PLBY for a cash payment of US$100 million as well as a 10 per cent equity interest in the new entity.

PLBY fell about 1.1 per cent to 72 cents per share at 10.06 am in New York trading on Monday, giving the company a market value of about US$54 million.

A representative for Hefner Capital declined to comment. A representative for PLBY didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

PLBY’s shares have declined roughly 99 per cent from a high of US$57.70 in May 2021, when it was swept up in the meme-stock rally after returning to the public market through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company. PLBY, which has reported a decline in revenue, said in August that it is re-launching Playboy magazine as an annual edition, as of February 2025.

In 2023, PLBY sold its Lovers and Yandy retail businesses, and said in an investor presentation last month that it’s in a “divestiture process” with lingerie brand Honey Birdette, which it bought for about US$333 million in 2021. BLOOMBERG