Is Playboy in play? Naw.

News that Playboy Enterprises had hired a pair of advisors has some wondering if the magazine publisher might actually be sold. Yesterday, Playboy’s special board committee said it had retained Raine Securities and Kaye Scholer as financial and legal advisors.

Lest anyone has forgotten, a few months ago there was an apparent bidding war for Playboy. In July, Hugh Hefner, the perennial playboy who founded the magazine, made a $5.50 a share offer for all the stock of the company he doesn’t own. FriendFinder Networks Inc., owner of rival skin mag Penthouse, then swooped in with a $6.25 a share offer for Playboy.

Will he or won’t he? That’s the question now facing Hugh Hefner and Playboy Enterprises.

On Thursday, FriendFinder Networks Inc., owner of rival skin mag Penthouse, made a $210 million-plus offer for Playboy.

FriendFinder’s bid is $6.25 a share, a near 14% premium to the $5.50 a share offered by Playboy founder and mascot Hugh Hefner earler this week. Hefner can sweeten his bid, although some think he won’t.

“It all comes down to what Hefner wants to do,” says Marc Bell, CEO of FriendFinder Networks. “Does he want to partner with us, cash out or keep things status quo?”

Don’t expect any new players in the Playboy auction.

Yesterday, the company said that it had received a $123 million buyout bid from founder and mascot Hugh Hefner. The $5.50 per share offer would have Heffner buy up all the stock he doesn’t own — he’s already got 70% of Playboy’s Class A voting stock and nearly 28% of class B shares — and is backed Rizvi Traverse Management, a buyout shop that has invested in film studio Summit Entertainment (think Twilight saga).

Marc Bell, CEO of FriendFinder Networks (which owns Penthouse), told peHUB Tuesday that he will likely make a bid for Playboy and that his offer will come “soon.” When asked if his offer will larger than Hefner’s, Bell said “most likely.”

Outside of their long-standing rivalry, it’s not clear what value Playboy will provide for Penthouse. “The [competition] alone makes it interesting,” Bell says.

(Reuters) – Playboy spent 56 years making sure that the world would know it by the sign of its bunny ears. Now that the company is up for sale, Playboy’s iconic logo, not the magazine, might be what saves it. Playboy Enterprises Inc (PLA.N) is in talks with at least one possible bidder for the [...]

NEW YORK(Reuters) – Playboy Enterprises Inc (PLA.N) is in talks with Jim Griffiths, a former entertainment president at Playboy, and private equity firm Golden Gate Capital, to sell itself for about $300 million, a source familiar with the matter said Friday. Playboy declined to comment. Golden Gate Capital, which is in joint talks with Griffiths, [...]