sun surf 99

Sun, surf and a pad in ParisAT THE top end of town, even Palm Beach can get a bit weary after a while.

So it's important to have a place to get away. Ask PEPpy privateer Paul McCullagh from Pacific Equity Partners.

While McCullagh and better-half Nikki Parker call Palm Beach home, the latest copy of Vogue Living, a collectors' edition edited by Mrs Baz Luhrmann (aka Catherine Martin), lifts the lid on another hideaway. Or, at least, a fancy rental property. Call it what you will.

For those who can't fork out €9000 ($16,500) a week in rent to check it out, the mag's lavish 12-page spread showing off an apartment in the seriously big end of Paris town on Place des Vosges, in Le Marais, should do the trick.

"Regarded by chic Parisians as 'the country in the city', [Place des Vosges] was built by Henri IV between 1605 and 1612 and is the prototype of all residential squares in European cities," the mag notes.

And we thought private equity was going through a rough trot.

Still, we even found the occasional online ad spruiking the flat as discreet, elusive and refined. And "For Rent".
All work and no play

Not that you'll find McCullagh mentioned by name.

In the shoot, Parker walks readers through the first-floor apartment, resplendent with master bedroom and lots of, er, old, fancy furniture (read "expensive"). Mrs Mc even had her photo taken sitting on the bed with, sacre bleu, another man. Relax, it was the celebrated designer Jacques Grange who decked out the joint.

The closest McCullagh comes to a reference is when Nikki reflects on how "her husband proposed to her there [in Paris] and of how he supported her idea of owning an apartment".

Wonder if he even wrote the cheque?

"It's Nikki's apartment," McCullagh told CBD. "Her business, Wild Unicorn, owns, renovates and decorates luxury houses and apartments."

What, never even laid eyes on the place ? Or hung the jacket on the door when you're passing through Paris?

"PEP is way too busy to allow me such indulgences."

Must be that all that annoying debt refinancing, like at Independent Liquor. "[It's] for the future, I hope."

Still, private equity can be a cruel playing field. Imagine how Adrian MacKenzie's better half must feel. The wife of CVC Asia Pacific's boss gets a bookshop in Double Bay and a few acres in Berrima while Mrs McCullagh has a place on Place des Vosges in Paris. C'est la vie.
Change of heart

Last week, we pointed out Coca-Cola Amatil chairman David Gonski quietly extended the contract of CEO Terry Davis in the middle of a takeover from Lion Nathan last December without telling the market.

We mused at the likelihood of Davis getting the extra years service paid out had Lion's bid got up. While the ASX was of the view that companies should announce such contract extensions immediately, Amatil was comfortable merely to disclose it only last week in its annual report.

It was, we were told, merely a "coincidence" that Davis's contract was extended while he was defending the company from a takeover.

Things, we hear, have changed. "In the future, Coke will be announcing any similar extension to the CEO's contract immediately rather than waiting for disclosure via the annual report," ASX spokesman Matthew Gibbs said.

Sadly, bubbly Coke spokeswoman Sally Loane didn't respond to our query about Coke's sudden change of heart.
Sol targeted

Sol Trujillo knows a bit about being a Target. The outgoing Telstra boss is under fire for his spot on the board of US retailer Target where a major shareholder is trying to spill directors.