• New York Post, Thursday, November 12, 2009 11:53 PM

A bidding war may be about to erupt for Playboy Enterprises. Inconix, a publicly traded brand management company is looking over the compnay's books, according to Bloomberg. Inconix just bought Marc Ecko and owns London Fog and Danskin.

At least one undisclosed private equity player is also in the hunt, say sources. Providence Equity and Apollo are said to have taken a pass. Since May, Playboy has been for sale with an asking price of $300 million, far above its market capitalization.

Hugh Hefner remains very much at the helm of the magazine with a controlling 70% of the company's stock. Daughter Christie resigned from her CEO job last year and in May left the Playboy board. No deal could be done without "Hef's" approval, which is why a buyer would be forced to pay a premium price.

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