Asian private equity firm Affinity Equity Partners has tapped into a $2.2 billion bidding war for Australia's fourth-biggest telecommunications company Vocus Group, rivalling a similar offer from the US.
Vocus, which has rapidly expanded through a series of mergers and acquisitions, said Affinity put forward a $3.50 a share indicative and non-binding proposal late on Monday.
Investors took a liking to the news and sent Vocus shares up 2.6 per cent to $3.54.
The new bid comes less than a week after Vocus opened its books for non-exclusive due diligence by US private equity giant Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, which in June offered a similar $3.50 a share takeover proposal.
The telecom provider said its board had decided to also allow Affinity to conduct due diligence on a non-exclusive basis, in order to establish whether an acceptable transaction could be agreed.
"The proposal is subject to due diligence and conditional on a number of other matters substantially similar to those in the KKR proposal," Vocus said in a statement.
'The interests of shareholders will be best served by a formal process to thoroughly evaluate whether a change of control offer, at a price and on terms that the board would recommend, can be secured."
Vocus' management has grappled with a rush to expand that began in December 2014 with a $1.2 billion Amcom merger, followed by a $3.8 billion merger with M2 Group and October's $807 million acquisition of Nextgen.
Investors were shocked in May when the owner of internet providers dodo and iPrimus cut its annual guidance for a second time in six months, citing a raft of problems on the back of its rapid expansion.
That news sent its shares tumbling to a three-and-a-half year low of $2.35.
Vocus reaffirmed its revised guidance in early June, with full-year underlying profit expected to come in between $160 million and $165 million.
Vocus said on Tuesday it would not make any further announcements unless and until a recommended offer was secured, or if there was a development which required disclosure.
"There is no certainty that this process will result in an acceptable offer for Vocus, nor what the terms of any such offer would be, or whether there would be a recommendation by the Vocus board," the company said.
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