Publicly Traded Strip Club to Wall Street: There Is Nothing Like Doing Your Own Research
Rick’s Cabaret International, a publicly traded strip, er, “gentleman’s club” will be hosting a special “Stockbroker’s Due Diligence Ball” at its New York City mammary mecca, beginning with an all day “program for members of the financial services community” that will feature free admission and discounted drinks.
“We want to give brokers, bankers, analysts, fund managers and portfolio managers the chance to come in and check us out through proper due diligence,” says Eric Langan, CEO of Rick’s. The event will be held at its club on 33rd Street on February 15.
Rick’s, which trades on the Nasdaq under RICK, enjoyed a 75 percent jump in total nightclub sales compared to the same quarter a year ago.
It’s a clever—if not in questionable taste—publicity stunt, coming days after the NYSE and the NASD asked member firms to come up with rules for entertaining. The call for tougher rules comes amid lawsuits and news stories about employees of fund companies taking brokerage employees to strip clubs. Morgan Stanley this year fired four male employees for visiting a strip club in Arizona. There are several sexual discrimination suits current against Wall Street firms.
One wonders what firms will think if Private Media Group, a Nasdaq listed “adult entertainment” company, offers to hold quarterly due diligence meetings. Private Media trades under the symbol, PRVT. Major Wall Street firms contacted for this story declined to comment.
For more on Rick’s “Stockbroker’s Due Diligence Ball,” go to: http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/060202/20060202005888.html?.v=1.
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