The same forces are driving competitors TPG Telecom Ltd and the local arm of Britain's Vodafone Group PLC to pursue a A$15 billion merger. Both KKR and Affinity dropped their approaches for Vocus, without explanation, four days after Vocus issued a third profit warning in nine months back in August 2017. Since then, Vocus has shifted focus to network infrastructure, owning and developing fibre-optic cables in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific. Under the strategy, revenue in the division grew by almost a third over the six months to Dec. 31. "Where the retail market is still very tough, trying to fight against the big guys, that infrastructure-based commercial business seems to have a few different dynamics," said Jason Beddow, chief executive officer of A$5.3 billion fund manager Argo Investments Ltd and a shareholder of Vocus. EQT, which is backed by Sweden's industrialist Wallenberg family, has mostly focused in Europe and North America.