Hefner to take Playboy private

CHICAGO, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- Playboy Enterprises said it had agreed to let a partnership led by founder Hugh Hefner take the struggling U.S. company private.

Hefner's partnership, which includes an affiliate of Rizvi Traverse Management LLC and a loan commitment from Jefferies & Co., would pay $6.15 per share for the 30 percent of the company Hefner does not own in a deal worth $137 million that included a transfer of $115 million in company liabilities, Crain's Chicago Business reported Monday.

Playboy is in transition, as are many media companies that once relied on print publications and now have to compete with the Internet. It lost $51.3 million in 2009 and more than three times that much in 2008. From January through September of 2010 its losses rose again, compared with the first three quarters of 2009, reaching $33.8 million for the nine-month stretch.

Hefner's offer is an 18 percent premium from Friday's closing share price for the company, which has focused on brand licensing and expanding its investment in night clubs to increase revenue.