Buying a Business in Kentucky
What SBA acquisition lending actually looks like in Kentucky, from loan-level government data.
FY2025 Acquisition Loans
84
$104.3M approved
Median Loan
$500,000
FY2020 through FY2025
Loans Since FY2020
342
$347.7M in total approvals
Share of U.S. Activity
1%
Of change-of-ownership loans
Most Active Acquisition Lenders in Kentucky
- 1. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Company51 loans
- 2. Community Trust Bank, Inc.40 loans
- 3. Live Oak Banking Company27 loans
- 4. Republic Bank & Trust Company26 loans
- 5. The Huntington National Bank23 loans
A lender being active in Kentucky does not require a local branch; several top SBA lenders work nationally. Build a shortlist with Lender Match.
What Gets Bought in Kentucky
- Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels26 loans
- Limited-Service Restaurants23 loans
- Full-Service Restaurants17 loans
- All Other Specialty Trade Contractors15 loans
- General Freight Trucking, Local9 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 Kentucky 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.