SBA Broker Talking w/ Seller's Advisor

July 25, 2024
by a searcher from University of Florida - Warrington College of Business Administration in Tampa, FL, USA
All - I had a situation come up today and curious if others have experienced this and what they did. I am two months into diligence on a deal under LOI. The seller's advisor had referred me to an SBA broker at the start of the process. I am running a parallel path with this individual and a couple other banks directly. I worked in PE and leveraged lending prior to my search, so am familiar with raising money. I have three term sheets in hand that I've drummed up and on the terms I want. I am expecting a couple more in the next few days. This individual has drummed up zero interest. That's not the real problem though. I found out today he's having conversations with the seller's advisor about the process behind me back - telling him that the process isn't going well. Now I have to play damage control. He's also told the seller's advisor how I'm proposing to put the seller note on standby. I was waiting for some diligence findings to be final before negotiating that with the seller. Now my hand is forced prematurely.
Has this happened to anyone else? What did you do? My understanding was that he was working for me. Any status updates or structure points were not his to share...
Sorry for the long post.
from Kennesaw State University in Atlanta, GA, USA
from Eastern Illinois University in 900 E Diehl Rd, Naperville, IL 60563, USA