New Zealand [New Zealand Herald]- New Zealand investors are about to be offered the opportunity to invest in the porn industry.

Controversial businessman Steve Crow is looking to float his adult entertainment company, Vixen Direct, on the NZX.

Crow is seeking up to $5 million to expand the business, which mostly sells adult DVDs, into Australia and South Africa.

He is also keen to launch a chain of upmarket adult stores, aimed at women.

The move is somewhat ironic for the stock exchange, given that it was sued by Crow in 2003 for changing its name to NZX. It was, he claimed at the time, infringing the copyright of his adult magazine with the same name.

And Crow, who is also planning to run for the Auckland mayoralty, has already come up against resistance to the move.

While he says he has lined up a broker for the float, he has been unable to find an accountancy firm willing to value the business for a prospectus he plans to launch next month.

According to Crow, every firm he has approached has turned him down on moral grounds – even Ernst & Young, which he says was happy to provide a valuation for his Australian rival, Adultshop.com.

So far, just nine adult companies are publicly traded around the world. Most are based in the United States, although Germany, Spain and Australia each has one public porn company.