Canadian Buying a U.S. Business: Financing Options?

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October 17, 2024

by a searcher from McGill University in Montreal, QC, Canada

Hi,

Has any Canadian citizen successfully acquired a business in the U.S.? If so, were there any financing options available similar to the SBA loan that you could access as a non-U.S. citizen?

I'd appreciate any insights on how the process works and what financing options are available.

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Reply by a searcher
from Tsinghua University in Toronto, ON, Canada
Wassim, my business partner and I are both Canadian and we're in the process of acquiring a company in the US. The biggest success we've found is working with regional lenders. They're nimble, commercially oriented, personable and have the same mutual goal of supporting your growth.

When it comes to the larger US nationals, we found the loan size wasn't big enough and they were a lot more rigid in what they'd lend to. If it doesn't fit in a box they're used to, they won't engage past a preliminary conversation.

We didn't pursue the SBA path. While we were told from a few sources it's possible, the obstacles as a non-US citizen seemed prohibitively difficult.

Good luck!
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Reply by a searcher
from Ivey Business School at Western University in Windsor, ON, Canada
I have found some solid regional or niche-industry US lenders who have experience providing this type of non-SBA acquisition financing and some of them market directly to the search community - albeit they offer different and somewhat less attractive terms then would be available if the SBA was an option - a good source for personal intros could be your US-lawyer who hopefully has experience advising other non-US buyers and can make intros for you to search-minded lenders they have worked with on similar deals for financing... hope that helps.
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