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Today could be a very big day for Playboy: It's gala Christmas issue hits the stands, with alternate covers featuring Dancing With the Stars sensation Joanna Krupa (nude in an 8-page pictorial inside) and comedian Chelsea Handler.
Inside there's also first publication of the original author's cut of Vladimir Nabokov's story "Laura," and porn-mainstream crossover success story Sasha Grey posing as Nabokov's infamous Lolita character. Interviews with Gore Vidal, Avatar director James Cameron, and cartoon legend R. Crumb (this time around he's busy sexing up the Bible) represent a return to form for Playboy so sweet you'd almost think they're up to something.
And, it turns out, they may very well be: Playboy Enterprises stock jumped 42 percent yesterday on the news that it is in talks to sell itself to Iconix Brand Group Inc. Other high-profile companies have already looked at Playboy, including Virgin, wink wink, since rumors of a possible sale began in June.
Before Thursday’s news broke, Playboy’s market value had dropped to about $100 million after the stock fell 76 percent in five years and circulation at its flagship magazine declined.
Playboy’s management has been looking for a buyer since Scott Flanders was appointed as CEO in June, replacing Christie Hefner, one person close to the situation told Bloomberg.
Playboy in a statement Thursday afternoon said that, "in response to inquiries related to a potential sale of the company, in keeping with its policy, it does not comment on matters of this type."
At post time, Playboy shares were trading $4.07 on the New York Stock Exchange.
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