The publisher of adult magazine Penthouse has renewed plans to sell shares in an initial public offering, using the money to pay down debt.

Friendfinder, which owns a string of social networking websites along with Penthouse, said on Thursday it had hired Imperial Capital and Ladenburg Thalmann & Co to oversee the IPO.

The company, which shelved earlier efforts at an IPO, did not estimate how much stock it would sell or what the price of the shares would be. It said proceeds would be used be repay at least part of around $319 million in debt it issued last year.

The shares will be sold on the Nasdaq market. The company, whose websites include AdultFriendFinder.com and BigChurch.com, said it will be listed under the symbol FFN.

Friendfinder, with revenue last year of $346 million, has geared up for an IPO in the past, only to see plans derailed. In 2008 it filed for an IPO of up to $460 million, but later cut the sale in half. Last February, it indefinitely shelved plans for the sale, citing market conditions.

Friendster offered to buy rival Playboy Enterprises Inc last year for $210 million, but was thwarted when Playboy founder Hugh Hefner moved to take the company private.

(Reporting by Paul Thomasch; editing by John Wallace)

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