Seeking Financing for Small Acquisition

I’m currently pursuing a small business acquisition in South Carolina. I have access to the seller’s financials for the past five years. The challenge is that the seller is anchoring his valuation on a multiple of 2.5x–3x earnings, but he’s selectively using only his best years. The business lacks consistency, and a more accurate valuation would be based on an average or normalized EBITDA. While I have significant experience in M&A, I’m not looking for a full valuation report. What I need is a financing partner or small financial firm that can assist in one of two ways: • Help structure a Letter of Intent (LOI) or Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that reflects a more realistic valuation, ideally backed by lender guidance. • Offer basic deal support that allows me to present the seller with a credible, third-party-supported offer—rather than it just coming from me. This is a small transaction. My target purchase price is $150,000, with $50,000 down and $100,000 financed. The seller is currently expecting around $375,000, so part of the goal is to use the LOI structure or financing pre-qualification as a tool to guide him toward a more reasonable number. I know this may be a smaller deal than most firms typically support, but I believe there’s someone out there who can assist in helping get this across the finish line.