NEW YORK: Penthouse, the risque adult magazine founded by publisher Bob Guccione, is going on the block. The men’s magazine, which has struggled with a steep drop in sales as its traditional customers have been lured away by the explicit content on the internet, is up for sale as part of an agreement between parent company General Media and creditors.

Guccione started Penthouse in ’65. Along with Playboy’s Hugh Hefner and Hustler magazine’s Larry Flynt, he became one of the most famous publishers in the world of adult magazines.

But sales of Penthouse have dropped sharply in recent years. In addition to losing customers to an array of adult material available on the internet, many younger men have gravitated toward less sexually graphic and more celebrity-oriented magazines like Maxim.

General Media filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in August. The company is in discussions with potential buyers to sell Penthouse and other assets, Robert Feinstein, an attorney for the company, said.

“There is a process that’s been set up to allow prospective buyers to come in and conduct due diligence,” Mr Feinstein said. “It has created a fair amount of interest because of Penthouse’s world-renowned name.” Mr Feinstein said the company would prefer to try to reorganise, but that the secured lenders “are aggressively urging a fast sale of the company.” Under the guidelines of the sale process, the sale of General Media’s assets is to close by mid-January, he said. T Scott Avila, a partner in turnaround firm Corporate Revitalization Partners LLC who was named General Media’s chief restructuring officer, also confirmed that the company is in discussions about selling the magazine.