(Bloomberg) — Cards Against Humanity LLC, the maker of the eponymous and tasteless-by-design party game, is exploring a potential sale, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Chicago-based company is working with an adviser, Moelis & Co., after it received takeover interest, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information was private.
The company is seeking to be valued at around $500 million in a transaction, the people added.
The company generates earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, of between $40 million to $50 million a year.
Cards Against Humanity hasn’t made a final decision on pursuing a sale and could decide to remain independent, the people said.
Representatives for the company and Moelis declined to comment.
Cards Against Humanity is seen as one of the biggest successes in the NSFW — not safe for work — category of card and board games. The creators of the game, after testing it on friends and family, relied on a 2010 Kickstarter campaign to raise the money to professionally print and box a proper version.
On its website, the company describes Cards Against Humanity as “a party game for horrible people,” adding “Unlike most of the party games you’ve played before, Cards Against Humanity is as despicable and awkward as you and your friends.”
One of its co-founders, Max Temkin, stepped down in June 2020 after reports of a toxic work environment, according to a statement on its website. Temkin no longer participates in the business but is still one of the owners of the company, which is run and controlled by its co-founders, a person familiar with the matter said.
The company said at the time it would hire a specialist to improve human resources, hiring and management practices at the company.
“As Cards Against Humanity rapidly grew from a hobby project in our parents’ basements to a company with 18 full-time employees, we made a lot of mistakes,” the statement said. “We want to apologize to employees who were unheard or disrespected in our office.”
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