A syndicate led by former Telstra director Geoff Cousins has made a formal offer to buy the Virgin Mobile business in Australia from the Singapore Telecommunications owned Optus.
Cousins confirmed to Street Talk on Tuesday that he had made the offer to Optus in Australia and was awaiting a response.
"I can confirm that a group of people have made an offer," he said.
"They are people who know a bit about telecommunications and the Virgin business."
Cousins would not be drawn on how much he the syndicate had offered or when the offer was made.
The purchase of Virgin Mobile by canny investors would boost competition in a sector already the subject of rising competition on price and capital investment.
Over the past 12 to 18 months Telstra, Optus and Vodafone have stepped up their capital investment. They have also shown greater willingness to compete on price.
Optus paid $100 million for the 74 per cent of Virgin Mobile it did not already own in 2006. Optus paid $30 million upfront and agreed to make ongoing payments in return for a 15 year licence to use the Virgin Mobile brand. The licence expires in 2021.
Optus does not disclose the financial performance of Virgin Mobile but it is believed to account for about 3 to 4 per cent of the 5.5 million Optus customers.
Virgin Mobile's status within the Optus group has been downgraded over the years. It now has about 10 marketing staff.
Optus has in recent years tended to focus its attention on promoting mobile virtual network operators such as Amaysim rather than Virgin Mobile.
Virgin owner Richard Branson would most likely to be happy to see Virgin Mobile in Australia end up in the hands of Cousins and his partners.
It would mean greater focus on its growth prospects and increased investment in advertising and marketing.
Virgin Mobile would be a big beneficiary of the declaration of domestic mobile roaming by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. That decision is due after Easter.
An Optus spokeswoman said the company does not comment on market rumours or speculation.
Finally, as Street Talk reported on Tuesday, the revolving door at the top of Accolade Wines just keeps spinning.
Chief executive Michael East is stepping down after just eight months in the role and will retire from the company. His position is being assumed by chairman Jim Anderson.
East is a 30-year wine industry veteran who took up the reigns at short notice in August, 2016, after the sudden departure of Paul Schaafsma, who himself had only been at the helm since October, 2015.
East has told the Accolade board the decision last month to ditch plans for an IPO had been one of the catalysts for his decision.
