Playboy shares jump...Hefner to take bunny private

Shares of Playboy Enterprises Inc. surged more than 17% on Monday after founder Hugh Hefner signed an agreement to take his publicly traded company private. Hefner, who already owns a substantial amount of the adult magazine publisher's shares, has signed an agreement with Icon Acquisition Holdings LP to pay US$6.15 per share for the portion of Playboy that he does not already own. The deal values Playboy at US$207mn. FriendFinder Networks, the owner of rival Penthouse magazine, had earlier offered a higher bid. FriendFinder offered US$6.25 per share, kicking off a bidding war for the company. FriendFinder's offer in July valued the company at US$210mn. Playboy has been publicly traded since 1971. Icon's offer is at a premium of about 18% to Friday's closing price. The tender offer will begin by Jan. 21 and will expire after 20 business days. More than 50% of the Class A and Class B shares outstanding - roughly 22 million - must be tendered and not withdrawn.