Thursday, Jun 22, 2006    Text size: 

Financial terms of the deal are not being made public at this time, but the agreement does cover all aspects of Jameson’s company, including websites, DVDs titles, film production assets and retail distribution. Playboy also will incorporate Club Jenna’s DVD content into its pay-per-view TV offerings nationwide and make use of the company’s contract stars in future productions.

Both Jameson and her husband, Club Jenna President Jay Grdina, have signed personal service agreements with Playboy in conjunction with the acquisition. Jameson will, however, retain her industry persona and is free to appear in promotions for toy companies, mainstream advertisers and others.

"[Club Jenna] is a very attractive business, which we believe will be both financially accretive and strategically complementary as we continue to execute our multi-platform strategy," Playboy chairman and CEO Christie Hefner said. "This acquisition will allow us to diversify our content offerings in the domestic TV business, while, on the online side, also expanding their existing properties through our network of sites."

Rumors have been circulating regarding the acquisition for some time, and Luke Ford reported the deal several months ago, but both sides had denied a deal was in the works.

The deal could be a coup for the publicly traded Playboy, which entered the hardcore DVD market for the first time in 2005 with the launch of Spice Studios and is facing increased competition in the PPV sector from Hustler TV and the impending launch of Penthouse's own PPV channel.

Spice Studios has released a handful of DVDs in 2006, including new productions as well as titles based on previously unreleased hardcore footage from its Playboy TV shows. It is not known whether Club Jenna titles will be re-packaged under the Playboy brand.