A Message from Our President & CEO

In 1940, my grandparents founded the Southern Kansas Telephone Company (SKT), and it has been our family’s honor to serve rural Kansans for 80 years.

After careful consideration, we will transfer ownership of SKT to another family-owned telecommunications company – Twin Valley Management. As a fellow rural Kansas provider, Twin Valley is committed to community, customer service, and continued improvements to the network to meet customers’ needs. You can read more in the press release below.

In the coming months, we will continue to provide you with the high-quality hometown customer service you have come to expect, and our entire team is dedicated to making it a smooth transition to Twin Valley’s management. Watch for more details leading up to the transfer of ownership, which will likely be finalized sometime in the spring.

As always, thank you for being an SKT customer.

Sincerely,

Kendall Mikesell
SKT President & CEO

Press Release

Twin Valley Management, Inc. Acquires Southern Kansas Telephone Company

Overland Park, Kan. — Twin Valley Management, Inc., the holding company for Twin Valley Telephone, Twin Valley Communications, and ISG Technology, announced that it has signed a definitive purchase agreement to acquire Southern Kansas Telephone Company (SKT), bringing together the two largest family-owned telecommunications companies in Kansas.

The deal also includes SKT’s equity in Kansas Fiber Network (KFN). KFN, which is  headquartered in Wichita, Kansas, provides internet and fiber transport services to carriers and enterprises in Kansas and the surrounding states and is owned by 27 other independent telecommunications companies.

“As we set our strategic growth plans, we identified four main criteria of companies that would complement and advance our team goals: strong culture, quality employees, potential for customer growth, and high-quality facilities that could still be upgraded. SKT was at the top of the list in every category,” said Twin Valley Management President and CEO Ben Foster.

Through this acquisition, new business technologies including hosted voice, cloud and managed backup services, and managed I.T. will be available to SKT customers in Wichita and the surrounding service areas.

“For us, looking at the Foster family and their Twin Valley companies is like looking into a mirror,” said Kendall Mikesell, Southern Kansas Telephone Company President and CEO. “We can see that we have found a buyer that shares our values, culture, and commitment to service. We know that Ben and his team will continue to build on the same dedication to rural Kansas communities that has guided the Mikesell family and our SKT companies for the last 80 years.”

The companies expect the transaction to be concluded by March 2021, subject to state and federal regulatory approval.

About Twin Valley

Twin Valley is a fourth-generation family business that has over 70 years of experience providing cutting-edge communication technology to rural Kansans. Together with ISG Technology, Twin Valley helps organizations unlock possibilities to realize their full business potential by providing a unique combination of broadband, managed IT services, technology consulting, professional services, and cloud/data center solutions.

About Southern Kansas Telephone Company

Southern Kansas Telephone Company has been owned and operated by the Mikesell family through three generations, serving rural Kansans for the last 80 years. SKT is the corporate identity attached to two companies that provide a wide array of state-of-the-art voice, broadband, and security products and services to 23 communities in seven counties of south central and southeast Kansas.

SKT serves over 10,000 customer service touchpoints from its corporate headquarters in Clearwater, Kansas.

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Additional information will be provided to customers at a later date.