The company behind the Playboy brand, which returned to the public markets last month, is looking to invest in “sexual wellness” products and companies, its new finance chief Lance Barton said.
“There’s a lot of different areas that we could play in with our brand,” Mr. Barton said.
Los Angeles-based PLBY Group Inc. in February listed on the Nasdaq after combining with blank-check company Mountain Crest Acquisition Corp. The deal armed PLBY with about $100 million to grow its business. Earlier this month, PLBY spent $25 million to buy TLA Acquisition Corp., a firm that sells sex toys, vibrators and lingerie through a subsidiary.
Mr. Barton joined PLBY on March 1 from dating-services provider Match Group Inc., where he most recently served as head of corporate development and investor relations. At PLBY, Mr. Barton succeeded David Israel, who in 2016 added CFO duties to his role as chief operating officer. Mr. Israel is now president of the company’s sexual wellness operations.
Today’s PLBY looks very different from the company Hugh Hefner founded in 1953. Under Mr. Hefner’s leadership, it specialized in adult entertainment and media. In recent years, it has reinvented itself as a lifestyle company by generating revenue from licensing the Playboy name and bunny-ears logo and direct-to-consumer sales of products in sexual wellness, apparel, beauty and gaming.
The company was last public in 2011, when private-equity firm Rizvi Traverse Management LLC took control of what was then called Playboy Enterprises Inc. and helped Mr. Hefner take it private. The business was struggling, due in part to lower ad revenues generated by the print edition of Playboy magazine.
Last year, the company discontinued the print edition after nearly seven decades. The family of Mr. Hefner, who died in 2017, is no longer involved in the business.
Lance Barton, chief financial officer of PLBY Group.
Photo: PLBY Group
PLBY sees its future growth largely coming from sexual-wellness products, such as condoms and CBD-based items, as well as lingerie. In January, the company expanded its licensing business into India for apparel and fashion items.
“There are probably more opportunities in front of us than we have capital to actually execute on today,” PLBY Chief Executive Ben Kohn said.
In the first quarterly earnings it has reported in years, the company said on Tuesday it booked $46.3 million in revenue in the fourth quarter, up from $21.2 million in the prior-year period, when it was still private. It posted a net loss of $512,000 in the quarter, compared with a net loss of $6 million in the prior-year period.
PLBY will have more flexibility in financing acquisitions as a public company, said Alex Fuhrman, senior research analyst at investment banking firm Craig-Hallum Capital Group LLC. “They’ve got a pretty good war chest for M&A, but they’re still going to want to be selective,” he said.
Mr. Barton said he also wants to explain the company’s strategy to investors and devise new ideas to monetize the storied brand. Its top shareholders include investment manager Fortress Investment Group LLC, Mr. Kohn and Suhail Rizvi, chairman of the board.
“People haven’t necessarily had a chance to really take notice, because we have not been reporting publicly,” Mr. Barton said.
The company’s stock traded at $17.45 a share on Thursday. It listed on Nasdaq at $12.98 on Feb. 11.
Write to Mark Maurer at [email protected]
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