IdeaTek (Private Equity) Acquires Velocity Broadband Assets From Butler Rural Electric Cooperative
March 3, 2026 – IdeaTek Telcom, LLC has announced that it has acquired the broadband assets of Butler Rural Electric Cooperative Association, Inc. which are used to provide service under the name Velocity. The structure of the deal was not publicly disclosed. Terms of the deal were not publicly disclosed.
Velocity, a division within Butler Rural Electric, was created in 2018 to provide internet access to the electric cooperative’s members. It generally consists of network assets, residential and business services, and customers of those services. Velocity Fiber provides fiber-based internet access in the communities of Rose Hill and El Dorado, and fixed wireless service to residents of parts of Butler, Sedgwick, Harvey, Cowley, Marion, Chase, and Greenwood counties. (Velocity is the name used by Butler Electric to provide internet services, and is not a separate company. It is not and should not be confused with Velocity Fiber, LLC, a different Kansas broadband company that is in the process of being acquired by Vero Fiber Networks, LLC.)
Ideatek is directly, wholly owned by IdeaTek Holdings, which is directly wholly owned by Last Dance Intermediate III, LLC (LDI), a Delaware limited liability company and investment fund created for the purpose of purchasing Ideatek in March 2025. LDI is indirectly and wholly owned by Last Dance Holdings, L.P. (LDH), a Delaware limited partnership and investment fund. LDH is primarily owned and controlled by funds and entities affiliated with Oak Hill Capital Management and Pamlico Capital Management, which are private equity funds based in the United States.
IdeaTek primarily operates in Kansas, where it is authorized to provide local exchange and interexchange services and is designated as an Eligible Telecommunications Carrier. It is also authorized to provide local exchange, interexchange, and interconnected VoIP services in Missouri. IdeaTek has been authorized by the FCC to receive Connect America Fund Phase II auction support and Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I support.
