submitted by dadaist

By Sonali Paul

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Australian stock market investors plunged
enthusiastically into the world's oldest profession on Thursday when the country's largest brothel, the Daily Planet, began selling shares.

The Daily Planet, which hired Hollywood Madam Heidi Fleiss to spice up its stock listing and touts itself as a recession-proof, five-star hotel, raised A$3.75 million after selling 7.5 million shares in the property arm of its business.

The stock soared to 75 cents in the first minutes of trade -- a hefty 50 percent premium on its 50 cent float price in an otherwise depressed equity market, and then settled back at around 70 cents.

"Obviously the price is going to go up. It's sex and everyone knows sex is a smart investment," Fleiss told reporters just before the shares started trading.

The Daily Planet, based in a Melbourne suburb, has a bar lounge and 18 themed rooms with names like Venus and Xanadu. Some of the rooms have beds and heavily chlorinated spas large enough for several guests at a time.

The company lured investors with the prospect of a steady 8.4 percent dividend, including Australian tax credits.

The listing marked the company's second attempt to enter the stock exchange. It aborted its first try in 1994 in the face of Victoria state legislation that subjected all investors in sex industry businesses to police checks.

To get the float off the ground this time, the company decided to
incorporate the property side of the business separately from the brothel operation, so that investors would not be subject to the Prostitution
Control Act.

The bulk of the listed company -- 26 million in non-tradeable shares -- is held mainly by the brothel's original owner, Chairman John Trimble, giving it a total stock market capitalization of around A$23.5 million ($14.5 million).

The Daily Planet turned to notorious Madam Heidi Fleiss to help it market the float, naming her its international ambassador.

Fleiss came out of jail in 1998 after serving 21 months of a three-year term for money laundering and tax evasion convictions stemming from her prostitute ring for Hollywood's rich and famous.

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It'd be worth some investment just to get their annual report. (Is it illustrated with product pictures? )