Brisbane duo $24m richer after sale of mobile phone firm

Two Queensland businessmen are enjoying a $24m windfall after selling the mobile phone business Moose they started six years ago to a firm backed by Andrew Forrest.

Two Queensland businessmen are enjoying a $24m windfall after the mobile phone business they started six years ago was sold to a company backed by Andrew Forrest.

Moose Mobile directors Dean Lwin and Scott Edwards have agreed to sell the business that specialises in cheap mobile phone plans to ASX-listed Swoop.

Moose was founded in 2017 as a reseller of second-hand mobile phones before adding mobile SIM plans to its offerings.

Dean Lwin, who acts as Moose chief executive, had experience as a telco dealer and initially saw a gap in the market for offering refurbished, superseded iPhone models at a discounted price. The Fortitude Valley-based company now provides over 94,000 mobile services on the Optus Network to customers across Australia.

Moose is one of several smaller players in the telco market that has benefited from piggybacking off giant providers Telstra, Optus and Vodafone. Moose and other smaller resellers typically charge less because of their lower overheads.

Mr Lwin said both he and Mr Edwards would stay with the firm that would continue top operate in Brisbane under the Moose brand.

Originally set up as a youth brand, Moose has since expanded it customer base winning

“most satisfied customers” and “outstanding value” Canstar Awards.

“We have always been about customer service and now being part of Swoop will allow us to expand even further,” said Mr Lwin. “Being associated with Swoop and people like Twiggy Forrest you are working with the best of the best.”

Price variation between telco providers can be huge, sometimes “double or triple the cost”, because some rely on people not bothering to check their plans.

Moose founders Dean Lwin (left) and Scott Edwards receiving an award from Canstar's Adrian Taylor (centre)

Swoop chief executive Alex West said it was an exciting time for Swoop to be joined by “the amazing founders (and team) from Moose that have specialised in marketing mobile services to residential customers.”

“Their subscriber growth has been outstanding over the last few years with over 94,000 active customers and increasing aggressively in recent times and they are motivated to achieve more as a combined group,” said Mr West.

Swoop listed on the ASX last May backed by Mr Forrest.

Mr Forrest entered the telco space with an investment in Cirrus in late 2019, backing well-known telco entrepreneur and investor James Spenceley, who chairs Swoop, and his brother-in-investment Tony Grist, founder of Amcom and a director of the Forrests’ Minderoo Foundation.

Swoop is positioning itself to be a “challenger” in the internet services sector, mainly against Telstra, by expanding its infrastructure and through acquisitions.

It operates one of the nation’s largest fixed wireless networks with 246 towers across all mainland states and 120 staff.