Sexyland, owned by Angelo Abela, is a chain of “female-friendly adult department stores” in the Melbourne area. Abela, in a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange, cited AdultShop.com’s share price and profit underperformance as justification for the acquisition.
AdultShop.com is owned by Malcolm Day, whose empire at one time was worth about $110 million.
In 2000, just a year after it was listed as a public company in Australia, AdultShop.com was worth $660 million. Now its market value is just $2.6 million.
After selling off shares, Day's stake in the company has fallen from almost $110 million to about $440,000.
Day said Australian laws, which made the sale of adult films illegal in most Australian states, had limited the growth of AdultShop.com.
Sexyland describes its ''success is attributed to its friendly yet professional customer service coupled with warehouse-sized stores which have been uniquely designed and decorated to make shopping at Sexyland a fun and exciting experience.''
Sexyland lists one of its top products as a device called a Muffin Mucker.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is not expected to block the bid even though AdultShop.com has an Internet joint venture with Sexyland's key rival, Club X, according to reports.
