Hollywood executives Jeff Sagansky and Harry Sloan are in talks to purchase Playboy Enterprises Inc., according to Reuters.
Citing people familiar with the situation, Reuters reported the talks are in advanced stages, with Sagansky and Sloan’s special purpose acquisition company Double Eagle Acquisition Corp willing to shell out between $2 billion and $3 billion to take over the brand that has licensing agreements for consumer products that feature its brand in more than 180 countries.
Double Eagle and Playboy both declined comment to Reuters, which hedged the story by saying, “Sources cautioned that deal negotiations could still fall through.”
Sagansky is a former president of CBS Entertainment and co-president of Sony Pictures Television, while Sloan is a former chairman and chief executive of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Playboy went private in 2011 by Rizvi Traverse and the magazine’s founder, Hugh Hefner, in a deal that valued the company at $207 million. The Playboy Mansion was recently sold, too, but Hefner will be allowed to live in the mansion for the remainder of his life.
The iconic property, located in the Holmby Hills area of Los Angeles, has been sold to Daren Metropoulos for $100 million. Back in February, the magazine decided to stop publishing nude photos of women. The magazine still includes photo spreads of women in provocative poses.