Playboy acquiring sexual wellness and intimacy products seller Lovers for $25 million

Playboy Enterprises Inc may soon acquire TLA Acquisition Corp, the parent company of sexual wellness chain Lovers, at around $25 million as it expands in the consumer products arena.

Lovers sells sexual wellness and health goods, including lingerie and intimacy products, online and across 41 brick-and-mortar stores in five US states.

The company is capitalizing on its brand by selling everything from apparel to art.

Playboy is seeking to grow its lifestyle brand after shuttering its famous magazine after its March 2020 issue.

The magazine's closure ended a nearly seven-decade run that began with a debut issue featuring Marilyn Monroe in 1953.

The company attributed its decision to close the print edition in part to the COVID-19 pandemic, which interfered with its magazine distribution.

The magazine was redesigned in March 2016 to stop featuring full-frontal nudity due to its inability to compete with freely available internet pornography.

Playboy is expected to become a publicly-traded company again in February upon completing the merger deal with blank-check acquisition company Mountain Crest Acquisition Corp.

It was taken private in 2011 in a $207 million deal led by its late founder, Hugh Hefner, and private equity firm Rizvi Traverse Management.

The merger deal with Mountain Crest values Playboy at $413 million, including debt.