Aussie brothel trades on stock exchange

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss was on hand Thursday as the stock market began trade in Australia's first-ever listed brothel, The Daily Planet.

"How can you go wrong with sex?" Fleiss asked while visiting the city of Melbourne to promote the enterprise and her new book, Pandering.

The Melbourne-based brothel raised $2.2 million in its initial public offering, Chief Executive Andrew Harris said.

Harris said the company had plans to franchise the business in other Australian cities, and build a "mega" brothel in Sydney, where prostitution has also been decriminalized.

Fleiss served 21 months in prison in the United States for money laundering, tax evasion and attempted pandering, and was released in 1999. She was hired by The Daily Planet to develop business ideas.

Harris said it was an uphill battle to get the brothel listed.

"The establishment did not want a brothel on the stock exchange, we have fought every institution, every law firm, it's cost us a fortune, but we're going on a massive expansion," he said.

Shares at The Daily Planet were offered at 31 cents each, and debuted higher at 43 cents. By late trading, shares were up 90 percent to 59 cents each.