First the renunciation of nude photos, then the sale. According to reports from the Wall Street Journal, times are really changing for Playboy, the historic magazine known throughout the world for its "bunnies". Playboy Enterprises, the media group founded by Hugh Hefner, is therefore exploring the sale, for an assumed value of 500 million dollars. Potential buyers include groups primarily interested in the brand, which could then be licensed.
In fact, it is the latter business that is potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars: Playboy, which last year said goodbye to the glossy nude by attempting a complicated digital relaunch, was withdrawn from the stock exchange in 2011 in an operation that at the time valued the magazine that made entire generations dream of 207 million dollars. In 2015, its media activities generated $38 million, which includes print and digital publishing efforts. Licensing of the brand to other groups instead brought in $55 million. Playboy Enterprises, in which its founder controls a third of the shares, advises the investment bank Moelis & Co.
