Victoria’s Secret fends off reclusive Aussie billionaire

Retail billionaire Brett Blundy has lost his bid to gain control of Victoria Secret’s board after fellow investors rejected his proposals at a shareholder meeting this morning.

Blundy has been seeking to remove the current Victoria’s Secret chair Donna James and three other board members and join the board along with three other of his nominees at the shareholder meeting.

The iconic retailer said shareholders voted to re-elect all nine of the board’s nominees, including James, with preliminary results indicating James received the approval of over 99 per cent of the votes cast from investors other than Blundy’s BBRC International.

“We thank shareholders for their overwhelming support in electing all nine of the Company’s director nominees. Today’s outcome is a decisive statement of support for the current Board leadership from VS&Co’s shareholders,” the company said in a statement following the meeting.

“It also recognises the substantial progress, outperformance and value creation delivered under the Path to Potential strategy and reaffirms shareholder confidence in our Board’s continued oversight of that strategy.”

Last month, Victoria’s Secret board detailed its reasons for rejecting the reclusive Australian billionaire’s bid to join its board and revealed that one of its picks had withdrawn from re-election under the pressure of the brutal battle for board seats.

The company alleged Blundy and his investment vehicle BBRC – which is its second-largest investor with a 13 per cent stake – has violated US security laws, has a conflict of interest over other investments, and cited potential risks arising from his track record of hiring executives accused of questionable behaviour.

More to come

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