Playboy, the storied men’s magazine publisher turned prolific brand licensor, will return to the public markets after nearly a decade through a special-purpose acquisition company, reported Bloomberg.
Playboy announced on Thursday, October 1, it will merge with Mountain Crest Acquisition, which will then take the Playboy name and trade under the symbol PLBY. The equity purchase price is US$239 million, with Mountain Crest also assuming US$142 million in Playboy debt, according to the company’s statement.
In a signal of Playboy’s transformation, that statement doesn’t once include the word magazine. The company, founded by the late Hugh Hefner in 1953, published the final regularly scheduled print issue of what had become a quarterly publication this past spring.
While it still publishes articles and pictorials online, Playboy now mainly bills itself as a consumer-products company for what it calls the Pleasure Lifestyle, in the categories of sexual wellness; style and apparel; gaming and lifestyle; and beauty and grooming.
The company stated that it has US$3 billion in consumer spending against the Playboy brand in 180 countries, with cash flows of more than US$400 million contracted through 2029.
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