US Playboy Acquires Australian Lingerie Brand 'Honey Birdette'

Photo by WSJ

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] The American Playboy has agreed to acquire Australian lingerie brand Honey Birdette for $333 million (approximately 376.6 billion KRW), the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 28th (local time).

This acquisition is part of Playboy's expansion of its trademark licensing business. Sources stated that Playboy plans to open additional offline stores using the Honey Birdette brand in U.S. cities such as Dallas, Miami, and New York.

Honey Birdette, a luxury women's lingerie brand, operates 60 offline stores in Australia as well as retail locations in the UK and the U.S.

Playboy enjoyed its heyday publishing adult magazines in dozens of countries worldwide since the 1970s, but due to declining magazine sales and losses caused by the spread of the internet, it ceased print magazine publication last March after 67 years.

Playboy returned to the New York Stock Exchange last year through a merger with a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC), nine years after becoming a private company following an agreement between its founder, the late Hugh Hefner, and private equity firm Rizvi Traverse.

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