Honey Birdette could be next IPO from Blundy

Could lingerie chain Honey Birdette be the next IPO from Singaporean Brett Blundy?

Surely that would be a record — four floats in a year, following Lovisa, Adairs and his latest hope, Macquarie-led Aventus B-grade property roll-up.

If Blundy gets Aventus away, he’ll have raised up to $620m from investors since Lovisa floated just before Christmas.

Who knows how much Honey Birdette, which has 41 stores across Oz flogging naughty knickers and saucy toys, would add to Blundy’s take?

Not bad for a bloke who, in a rare 2013 interview, declared: “I enjoy being private ... I learned from the public part of my life that my skill set is determining things and I don’t need a lot of discussion.”

Little wonder given the bruising he took over his previous listed effort, stagnant retail group Brazin, which he took private a decade ago.

Right now Blundy-watchers eagerly await the end of share escrows at junk jeweller Lovisa after results in early September, which will allow Blundy to dump his 41 per cent.

Lovisa was floated at $2 and is now at $3.35, so Blundy is up more than $58 million.

His Aventus boss and fellow shareholder Darren Holland is on holiday before flogging the float really cranks up and listed life’s rigours hit home.

Before Holland left he spruiked some old-news acquisitions, but just which properties they’ll hold back from the float has become the subject of much speculation.

Fairfax turbulence

It looks like some at Fairfax Media will go to great lengths to avoid entering a Virgin … plane.

In an email penned between checking the time on his fancy new watch, head paperboy Greg Hywood scolded staff plane-crazy enough to ignore a “preferred airline travel partner” deal Fairfax struck with Virgin earlier this year.

According to Hywood, the deal delivers “increased advertising spend”.

“It is our expectation that Fairfax employees choose Virgin when flying within Australia, unless there are exceptional circumstances. A large number of staff are still selecting other airlines for no reason other than personal preference.”

Alan Joyce’s “other airline” isn’t named but Margin Call hears Qantas is a big fave with Fairfax frequent flyers.

Those with a Virgin aversion better watch out: procurement is on the prowl and “will be in touch” with recidivists. Scary.

The Kelly gang

They miss Gail Kelly over at Westpac. The old boss is back after her safari to Africa (with hippos) and her former charges are pining for her presence.

Ahead of an appearance in this journal’s glossy magazine tomorrow, Kelly was at lunch in Melbourne on Tuesday plugging her work for charity Care.

Introducing Kelly at the lunch, which raised a more-than-expected $11,000, was Westpac’s director of women’s markets, Larke Riemer. Clearly a Kelly fan, Riemer said she’d been suffering separation anxiety since Gail left and was “missing the passion” of her old boss.

News makers

Keep expectations of the business elite low this morning, with many on the tiles last night mixing business with pleasure.

News gathered 700-or-so closest friends at Fox Studios to showcase its wares, with new co-chair Lachlan Murdoch and his wife Sarahexpected, along with an ad world who’s who including Ten’s Russel Howcroft, Universal McCann’s Mat Baxter and Mitchell’s Luke Littlefield.

Advertisers were all loved up, including Westpac’s Brian Hartzer, retail dynamos Gerry Harvey and Katie Page, cruise director Ann Sherry, Tabcorp’s David Attenborough, the underemployed Hamish McLennan and postie Ahmed Fahour.

Rolled out for News were outgoing boss Julian Clarke, replacement Peter Tongah, Foxtel boss Richard Freudenstein, Fox Sports heavy Patrick Delany, HWT director Penny Fowler (the daughter of Janet Calvert-Jones), and REA boss Tracey Fellows.

Harold Mitchell was expected to be hosting at Melbourne’s NGV for the opening of its latest show.

That might have taken some quality candidates from former PM Julia Gillard’s gig on Collins Street at online business school Ducere, where she is chancellor.

Not long ago punters forked out thousands to hear the Killing Season star, but last night just $59 got a ticket, with the bulk going to the Liberman family-backed Ducere Foundation, which funds education in Africa.

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