A consortium of investors led by former Qantas chairman Leigh Clifford is attempting to acquire the Melbourne Rebels and move the club to the Victorian capital’s western suburbs after it collapsed into administration earlier this year.

Mr Clifford, the former chief executive of Rio Tinto and father of former Melbourne Rebels director Georgia Widdup, is working with private equity and other investors to raise $30 million to invest in the Victorian rugby union team, which went into administration early this year after failing to pay millions of dollars in tax.