Playboy has no interest in selling to Hugh Hefner’s son – at least, not for his offering price. Playboy Group said on Thursday that its Board unanimously rejected Cooper Hefner’s “unsolicited” $100 million offer to buy the company, adding that the offer “substantially undervalues” the assets.
“After careful review and consideration of Hefner’s unsolicited proposal, our Board determined that the proposal substantially undervalues the Playboy assets and is not in the best interest of PLBY Group’s stockholders,” said Ben Kohn, Chief Executive Officer and a Director of PLBY Group. “While we certainly understand and are appreciative of the interest in Playboy’s unparalleled brand, the Board is confident that the Company’s continuing pursuit of its Playboy-focused, asset-light model will better support long-term value for stockholders. The Board will continue to evaluate all options and opportunities for Playboy.”
The 33-year-old Cooper Hefner, youngest son of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, made his offer on Monday and blamed current ownership for managing the brand “to a state of potentially nonexistence.”
“It’s a great American company and a great American brand, outside of my personal connection to it,” Hefner told the WSJ. He blamed current management for “entering businesses that they’ve never operated before,” whose products are “not resonating at all with consumers or customers or fans. And the business’s decline and the brand’s relevance — in terms of being hardly spoken about today — is a direct reflection of that.”
The company went public in 2021 but has seen its shares fall more than 90% since since then, and the brand ceased publication of a physical magazine in 2020. Hefner served as Playboy CCO from 2016 to 2019.
Leave a Reply