Hugh Hefner bids $185 mln to take Playboy private

Playboy Enterprises Inc said on Monday it received an offer from founder Hugh Hefner to take the company private in a deal which values the company at around $185 million.

Hefner has offered to buy all shares he doesn't currently own for $5.50 per share in cash, a premium of about 40 percent to its closing price of $3.94 on Friday.

He already owns around 69.5 percent of Playboy's Class A common stock and 27.7 percent of its Class B stock.

Playboy said Hefner is partnering with Rizvi Traverse Management, which has said it will raise financing for the transaction from major lenders.

The company said that in Hefner's proposal letter he is not interested in any sale or merger of Playboy Enterprises, selling Hefner's shares to any third party or entering into discussions with any other financial sponsor for a similar transaction.