By Suzanne Kapner

Victoria's Secret is ratcheting up its proxy fight with billionaire investor Brett Blundy by accusing the Australian businessman of spying on the lingerie retailer to gain trade secrets.

Victoria's Secret employees notified management in late 2024 that a senior employee of Blundy's private-equity firm BBRC International visited at least 17 stores and falsely presented himself as being affiliated with the lingerie retailer, according to proxy materials Victoria's Secret filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday. The employee, a trusted adviser of Blundy's, sought confidential sales information -- and succeeded in getting information "in some cases, " the proxy materials said.

At the time, Blundy was preparing to launch a competing lingerie brand called Léays, which made its debut in 2025.

Victoria's Secret notified BBRC of these incidents, and between December 2024 and February 2025, their respective lawyers exchanged letters about the matter. On Feb. 7, 2025, BBRC's lawyers confirmed that all sales and other confidential, trade-secret information had been destroyed, according to the proxy materials.

The board took issue with comments Blundy made during an Oct. 13, 2025, meeting, in which he said one way to ensure this never happened again would be by adding him to the board, according to a letter the board sent Blundy in November 2025 that was made public as part of the proxy filing Monday.

A spokeswoman for Blundy wasn't immediately available.

Blundy launched a proxy fight last week after Victoria's Secret denied him a board seat. BBRC International began building a stake in the company in 2022 and has pushed for changes since 2024.

Blundy is seeking to withhold votes against two directors at the company's annual meeting. One of those directors, Mariam Naficy, has informed the board that she won't stand for re-election at the coming annual meeting, according to a Victoria's Secret news release on Monday. The board is conducting a search for a new director to succeed her.

The Victoria's Secret board twice previously rejected Blundy's board candidacy, concluding that his appointment would introduce "serious reputational, legal, conflict of interest and governance risks."

In the letter released Monday, Victoria's Secret's board also said Blundy has hired executives with a history of serious allegations of sexual harassment or other misconduct and said the alleged instances of harassment and highly inappropriate employee policies occurred under Blundy's oversight at companies he controlled or effectively controlled.

Victoria's Secret has been turning itself around under Chief Executive Hillary Super, who took over in September 2024. Sales returned to positive territory earlier this year and grew 8% in the most recent quarter, which ended Jan. 31. The company's shares are up nearly 140% over the past year.

Write to Suzanne Kapner at suzanne.kapner@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 11, 2026 17:22 ET (21:22 GMT)

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