Playboy Enterprises, which pioneered print adult entertainment with Playboy magazine, has partnered with one of the largest names in pornography's online industry -- Manwin.

The nature of the partnership remains unclear since Playboy released a press release Friday that is short on substance and long on ambiguity.

It says that Manwin will be an operating partner for "certain Playboy-branded online and entertainment businesses under the label Playboy Plus Entertainment."

When asked for further explanation, a Playboy spokesperson said, "Additional terms of the relationship with Manwin may be made available at closing, which should be prior to year-end."

It does say that Manwin is the biggest international provider of high-quality adult entertainment and the owner of the largest network of adult websites in the world.

Manwin only adopted that name after self-professed "geek" Fabian Thylmann bought various assets to form a larger distribution network. Its properties now attract more than 50 million daily visitors.

This could be seen as another sign of trouble for Playboy, which was taken private by founder Hugh Hefner earlier this year. Its stock price was in a state of decline.

Moreover, Hefner's son-in-law, Bill Marovitz, just settled a lawsuit with the SEC over insider trading. Marovitz stood accused of using confidential information about the company from his wife, Christine Hefner, for his own benefit.

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