Hugh Hefner's Playboy May Soon Change Hands

Declining fortunes are said to be pushing Playboy Enterprises towards a sale. The company is estimated to be valued at $500 million.

The company that runs the famous Playboy magazine was founded by Hugh Hefner in 1953. Its circulation peaked in 1972 when it touched 7.2 million, according to New York Post. Today its circulation is 700,000. To stir things up a bit, the magazine decided it would stop printing nude images of women with its March issue, drawing mixed reactions from subscribers.

According to The New York Times, Playboy makes 40 percent of its money from China, mainly by licensing its brand and logo on a range of products. The magazine however is not available in the country. The company put up the Playboy Mansion for sale, along with its occupants including Hefner, in January. Prospective buyers had then evinced interest in buying the enterprise.

Hugh Hefner stirred a revolution with the magazine when the only source of adult entertainment was print. Over the years, the enterprise's clubs in cities across the globe have vanished, pushing the business to survive mainly on licensing.

The magazine has faced stiff competition from the internet and has been fighting a losing battle for more than a decade with online adult content entertainers eating the magazine's share of patrons.

The Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles went up for sale at $ 200 million. Private equity firm and Hefner turned the company private five years ago for $ 207 million.

The March issue was the first for the magazine to feature playmates' images without full frontal nudity. It also featured auto ads, which many thought was an ominous sign of the times the magazine finds itself in.