Tuesday, Nov 1, 2011    Text size: 

LOS ANGELES — The Manwin Group today officially took over Playboy-branded online and entertainment businesses under the Playboy Plus Entertainment label.

Under the terms of the licensing deal, Playboy will retain oversight of brand management but no financial terms have been revealed. Playboy made the announcement this afternoon.

The Playboy-Manwin deal includes all of Playboy's online properties and Playboy TV, as well as Spice Digital, in the U.S. and abroad.

Manwin's Playboy Plus Entertainment plans to launch a revamped version of Playboy.com, with a massive international campaign and introduce new content and programming to Playboy TV.

Playboy will collaborate with Manwin's Playboy Plus Entertainment on content creation and brand management oversight, and Playboy will continue to manage its social media platforms, new digital ventures business and Alta Loma Entertainment.

In August, when the deal was announced, Playboy CEO Scott Flanders said the partnership "is another step in turning Playboy from an operator of a range of media and licensing businesses to a brand management company."

"In Manwin, we have found another strong and experienced partner, and believe that this agreement will benefit our customers, distributors and advertisers," Flanders said at the time.

Fabian Thylmann, managing partner of Manwin, said in August that "there is no doubt that Playboy Enterprises has created a brand that is the epitome of sexy, fun indulgence."

"Manwin will help this prestigious name capture both TV and the digital age in the spirit in which it was created. Manwin's scale and expertise will catapult the brand in a way that will benefit all our partners, as well as Playboy fans."

Manwin operates Brazzers, YouPorn and Twistys, as well as numerous other brands. It claims to be the owner of the largest network of adult websites in the world, with more than 50 million daily visitors.

Based out of Luxembourg, Manwin has management offices in Hamburg, Montreal and Los Angeles.