Media: Playboy owners Could Take Rolling Stone

-New York Post

Playboy Enterprises’ owner, the private equity firm Rizvi Traverse, is among the handful of suitors bidding to buy Rolling Stone, which ended its preliminary sale round in late October.

The move is something of a surprise because at Playboy, RT has cut the frequency of the money-losing magazine that was at the core of the late Hugh Hefner’s empire.

It has concentrated most of its efforts on digital and profitable branding and licensing deals — slapping the iconic bunny ears on everything from cologne to underwear and condoms.

But then again, the bidder for the 51 percent of the rock magazine that is still owned by founder Jann Wenner is likely to be unconventional, since mainstream media publishers are sitting this one out. Even American Media and Tronc, which took a look in the first round, did not submit bids.

Page Six previously reported that Jimmy Dolan and Azoff MSG Entertainment CEO Irving Azoff were in the running with a bid believed to be in the $30 million range.

Todd Boehly’s Eldridge Industries, which owns Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter and the Vibe and Spin Web sites, is also said to still be in the race and ready to spend