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Buying a Business in Illinois

What SBA acquisition lending actually looks like in Illinois, from loan-level government data.

FY2025 Acquisition Loans

309

$363.6M approved

Median Loan

$690,000

FY2020 through FY2025

Loans Since FY2020

1,319

$1.53B in total approvals

Share of U.S. Activity

3.7%

Of change-of-ownership loans

Most Active Acquisition Lenders in Illinois

  1. 1. The Huntington National Bank150 loans
  2. 2. Byline Bank147 loans
  3. 3. Live Oak Banking Company126 loans
  4. 4. GBank37 loans
  5. 5. Old National Bank37 loans

A lender being active in Illinois does not require a local branch; several top SBA lenders work nationally. Build a shortlist with Lender Match.

What Gets Bought in Illinois

  • Full-Service Restaurants93 loans
  • Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels79 loans
  • Limited-Service Restaurants58 loans
  • General Automotive Repair31 loans
  • Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors30 loans

Industry-specific pricing and diligence live in the Industry Buy Guides.

Method & Source

Computed from the SBA 7(a) FOIA loan-level dataset (FY2020 through FY2025), filtered to approvals flagged change of ownership with a Illinois project address. Approvals, not closings; excludes conventional and 504 financing. Free to cite with attribution.

Everything here is educational information, not financial, legal, tax, or investment advice. Figures are estimates or cited third-party data; verify anything that matters against primary sources and your own advisors before acting on it.