Finance the company you are buying.
The acquisition is the deal. The loan is how it gets paid for. We take the financing to every lender who will look at a company this size, and we make them compete.
You have the company. You need the capital.
A search fund, an independent sponsor, or an owner buying a second company — the path is the same. The business is chosen. What is missing is a financing process. One bank, one term sheet, and a structure built around whoever called back first. We replace that with a market.
Who finances an acquisition.
SBA is a lender type on this deal, not a separate service. Search funds and independent sponsors show up twice: as the client buying the company, and on our network as buyers when we are selling one.
7(a) when the acquisition fits the program, including goodwill.
Conventional senior debt for a buyer with the collateral and the cash flow.
Unitranche and mezzanine when the bank stops short of the price.
As the client: a searcher financing the company they have under letter of intent.
As the client: a sponsor financing a deal before the equity is fully raised.
We structure them beside the senior loan, not instead of a process.
Who acquisition financing is for.
The company is chosen. An owner is buying a second business, a searcher has one under letter of intent, or an independent sponsor has the deal and still has to finance it. The buyer and the seller have a price, or they are close to one. What is missing is a financing process rather than a single conversation with one bank.
It fits privately held US companies in the band Siddwell serves, about $1 million to $100 million in revenue. It does not fit a startup with no operating history, and it is not the sale of your own company. Selling is sell-side M&A. Buying a partner's shares inside a company you already own is a partner buyout.
How lenders typically structure a buyout.
A bank looks at conventional senior debt when the cash flow and the collateral support it. The loan is sized off the company being bought and the buyer who will own it. A seller note can sit beside that senior loan. It is part of the price negotiation, not a substitute for asking more than one lender.
An SBA 7(a) loan is a loan a lender makes, with a guaranty from the SBA. The SBA states that the maximum 7(a) loan amount is $5 million, and that 7(a) proceeds can be used for a complete or partial change of ownership. You apply with the lender, not with the SBA. The program page is 7(a) loans. Whether this acquisition qualifies is the lender's reading of the current rules, including the change-of-ownership rules in effect from 1 October 2026.
Private credit is the path when a bank or an SBA lender stops short of the price. It is still a loan from a lender, often with different covenants and a different hold. Equipment or real estate inside the purchase can be financed by the specialist who does that asset, or left inside the acquisition facility. The point of the process is to see those structures next to each other.
Searchers and independent sponsors use this same stack. A search fund is a buyer type, described on the search funds and ETA page. An independent sponsor raising equity deal by deal is described on the independent sponsors page. In both cases the financing mandate starts when there is a company, not when someone is still looking.
Documents a lender usually asks for.
The SBA says the application contents vary with the loan and the lender's process, and that you work with the lender. The list below is what lenders commonly ask for on an acquisition. It is not an SBA checklist, and it is not complete for every credit.
- Three years of tax returns and financial statements for the company being bought, plus year-to-date statements
- A debt schedule and, if the buyer already operates a company, that company's statements too
- The purchase agreement or the letter of intent, including what is included in the price
- A sources-and-uses page: senior debt, any seller note, and the equity the buyer is actually putting in
- Ownership documents and a personal financial statement for anyone the lender will ask to guarantee
- Anything the lender orders itself, such as an appraisal or a quality-of-earnings report
How the financing is run.
The acquisition is the assignment. The steps are the same four used on every mandate. Engagement: a letter is signed, the books are reviewed, and the case a lender will back is built. Market: the materials are prepared and the lenders who actually finance this use of proceeds are mapped. Competition: they see the deal at the same time, so the house bank or the vendor's lender has to beat the field. Close: the offers are compared, the terms are negotiated, and the one you accept is taken to signing.
No duration is promised here, and no rate. A lender's credit process sets the clock. What the mandate changes is who is asked, and whether the first term sheet is the only one.
What Siddwell is and isn't.
Siddwell is an investment bank hired to advise on the financing and to run a competition among lenders. Siddwell is not a lender, not a licensed loan broker, and not a business broker. The lender makes the credit decision. If you would rather meet SBA lenders on your own, the SBA's Lender Match tool introduces participating lenders, and you apply with the lender, not with the SBA.
Is acquisition financing the same thing as an SBA loan?
No. Buying the company is the deal. An SBA loan is one way to finance it, alongside banks and private credit. We run the lender process and SBA is in it when the deal qualifies.
Do you finance search funds and independent sponsors?
Yes, when they are the buyer and the company is in market. That is this page. When a search fund or sponsor is bidding on a company we are selling, they sit on the buyer list instead.
What size company is this for?
Privately held US companies doing about $1M to $100M in revenue. Below Wall Street, and too important to leave with a single lender.
Does the SBA lend the purchase price?
No. On a 7(a) loan the SBA guarantees part of a loan that a lender makes. The maximum 7(a) loan amount published by the SBA is $5 million. You apply with the lender.
Can a seller note replace a financing process?
A seller note can be part of the price. It does not tell you what a bank, an SBA lender, or a private credit fund would offer on the rest of the stack.
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