Optus is acquiring Australia’s largest MVNO, ASX-listed Amaysim in an all-cash deal for AUD250 million. If shareholders agree, Amaysim will delist from the ASX in June 2021.
Before acquisition by its host network, Amaysim had grown to be the fourth largest service provider in Australia, with 1.19 million subscribers, having acquired rival MVNOs Vaya, Jeenee and OVO. Post-acquisition Optus says it intends to retain the Amaysim brand.
The news follows hard on the heels that Amaysim was offloading its Click Energy business to AGL for AUD115 million, which is AUD5 million less that it paid for the company three and a half years ago. The company had also put its wholesale contract up for tender before the bid from Optus.
Optus chief executive Kelly Bayer Rosmarin announced the acquisition of Amaysim at the same time as the launch of a new digital-only budget mobile and internet brand called Gomo, which is targetted at “value-seeking” customers.
Optus’s Managing Director of Marketing and Revenue Matt Williams said Singtel had already had success with the Gomo app in Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand.
Somewhat overshadowed by the acquisition news, Amaysim launched a new branding initiative ‘Little Sim, Big Love’. The company says the initiative will provide customers with great value, more data for their buck, no lock-in contracts or “tricky” catches, as well as “surprising delights when they least expect it”.
CMO Renee Garner said: “We’re the only telco that makes sure existing customers are always on the same or better plan as new customers…Our team loves the ambition this platform sets for us, and we get to sprinkle it with a whole lot of flirt and playfulness, and a deeply human touch. Who says you can’t fall in love with a telco?”
Garner notes that Amaysim consistently has the highest NPS of the top four mobile service providers (Telstra, Optus, Vodafone and Amaysim).
