** Shares of PLBY Group surge as much as 57% on Mon after report Hugh Hefner's son Cooper expressed interest in acquiring the Playboy brand

** PLBY shares last up 19.5% at 87 cents. Stock hit session high of $1.13, an over six-mth high ** Cooper Hefner, through his investment firm Hefner Capital, submitted offer to PLBY's board on Mon to buy Playboy's brand assets, including intellectual property, for $100 mln, Bloomberg News reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter

** The proposal, subject to due diligence, includes 10% equity stake in the new entity, according to the report ** PLBY shares have fallen sharply from all-time high of around $63 hit in May 2021, when co was swept up in meme-stock rally just months after its return to the public market through a SPAC merger

** Co's market value stood at ~$53.5 mln on Fri, per LSEG data ** PLBY, which in Aug reported 29% y/y decline in qtrly rev of ~$25 mln, said it would relaunch its Playboy magazine as an annual edition in Feb 2025

(Lance Tupper is a Reuters market analysts. The views expressed are his own) ((lance.tupper@thomsonreuters.com lance.tupper@tr.com 1-646-279-6380 ))