It may be time for the Playboy (NYSE: PLA) bunny to hop on to greener pastures. A surprising bidding war has erupted for the adult entertainment giant. Founder Hugh Hefner made an offer to take the company private, teaming up with a private equity firm to offer $5.50 for every share that Hefner doesn't already own.

Penthouse's parent company stepped in with a slightly higher offer later in the week.

The attention is surprising, given that Playboy has all of the modern-day sex appeal of Miss July 1968. It has posted losses in 10 consecutive quarters. Circulation has been tanking for years. Even Playboy's online revenue has been shrinking lately.

Bidding wars break out in the strangest of places sometimes.

Briefly in the news
And now let's take a quick look at some of the other stories that shaped our week:

  • eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) is being sued by a Connecticut company that claims PayPal infringes on six of its patents. The lawsuit is seeking at least $3.8 billion in damages. Whether the case is legitimate or not, nobody likes legal uncertainty.
  • All Things Digital is reporting that Hewlett-Packard's (NYSE: HPQ) plans to release a tablet fueled by Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG) Android are now on hold. HP will likely focus instead on releasing a tablet powered by its recently acquired webOS platform from Palm.
  • Twitter is finally cashing in on its @earlybird account. The microblogging site is offering to pass on sponsored deals to its followers. The first deal was tweeted on Wednesday, with Disney (NYSE: DIS) offering 2-for-1 admissions to see its new The Sorcerer's Apprentice movie. Poor Nicholas Cage, being marked down so soon in his latest theatrical run.
  • RadioShack (NYSE: RSH) shares have been up and down all week on ins and outs of buyout rumors. I guess private equity firms were just going in for a fresh pair of batteries.

Until next week, I remain,

Rick Munarriz