Is it realistic to go for deals larger than SBA size?

searcher profile

July 20, 2025

by a searcher from University of Wisconsin - Madison in Salt Lake City, UT, USA

I am a first time, solo searcher looking to acquire a company in the Salt Lake City region of Utah. Wondering if it's realistic to go for deals in the $6M-$10M range? How would you finance / fund such a deal if SBA limit is $5M? Any suggestions / advice would be greatly appreciated!
4
15
225
Replies
15
commentor profile
Reply by an intermediary
from University of California, Los Angeles in Downey, CA, 美国
Yes, it is realistic for a first-time, solo searcher to acquire a company in the $6M to $10M range, but it requires a different strategy than a standard, SBA-backed search. This path involves shifting your mindset and financing model from that of a traditional searcher to an independent sponsor. The journey of Yan Vinarskiy, who acquired a $22 million business, offers a clear blueprint for how this can be accomplished. https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:ugcPost:7352593278636056576/
commentor profile
Reply by a lender
from Eastern Illinois University in 900 E Diehl Rd, Naperville, IL 60563, USA
It is definitely possible to do transactions above $5 million with SBA loans. You have multiple options to make the transactions work including using SBA Pari Passu debt, seller notes, seller retained equity, higher equity contributions above the SBA minimum requirement of 10%, or a combination of these items. A few things to keep in mind if you are looking to go this route. First, if you intend to use Pari Passu financing, less than 10% of SBA lenders offer Pari Passu financing and those that do have higher underwriting requirements including higher minimum debt service coverage ratios, wanting more collateral, and stronger borrower net worths. Also, the higher the amount of Pari Passu you need, the number of lenders available quickly falls off. So you need to be strong and have a solid deal to qualify for Pari Passu financing. Secondly, even getting up to a $5 million SBA loan you need to have some net worth and post-closing liquidity. Lenders typically want more support for large transactions in generally. Lastly, if you go with seller retained equity, with the new SBA rules the seller would need to sign a two year personal guarantee on the loan, so that could be an issue for sellers. I am happy to discuss options at any time. We have helped clients put creative structures together to get larger transactions done with SBA financing. You can reach me here or directly at redacted
commentor profile
+13 more replies.
Join the discussion