Skip to content
SearchSphereSource
Sign inSign up

Buying a Business in Rhode Island

The Numbers

FY2025 Acquisition Loans

29

$25.7M approved

Median Loan

$500k

FY2020 through FY2025

Loans Since FY2020

106

$93.9M in total approvals

Share of U.S. Activity

0.3%

Of change-of-ownership loans

What the Data Says

Rhode Island ranks 43rd of 53 states and territories for change-of-ownership SBA 7(a) lending: 106 loans since FY2020, 0.3% of the national total.

The typical deal runs small: its $500k median loan sits below the $650k midpoint across states, within reach on less equity.

Activity is accelerating: FY2025's 29 loans ran ahead of the state's own ~18 a year pace since FY2020.

The most-financed target is beer, wine, and liquor retailers (11 loans), and the 5 most active lenders wrote about 48% of the state's acquisitions, a broad lender field.

This is a thin market by national standards, so expect fewer local comparables, and build the lender shortlist deliberately.

Most Active Acquisition Lenders in Rhode Island

  1. 1. Beacon Bank and Trust15 loans
  2. 2. Eastern Bank11 loans
  3. 3. Live Oak Banking Company10 loans
  4. 4. Navigant CU9 loans
  5. 5. Citizens Bank, National Association6 loans

A lender being active in Rhode Island does not require a local branch; several top SBA lenders work nationally. Build a shortlist with Lenders.

What Gets Bought in Rhode Island

  • Beer, Wine, and Liquor Retailers11 loans
  • Full-Service Restaurants8 loans
  • Child Care Services4 loans
  • Other Miscellaneous Durable Goods Merchant Wholesalers4 loans
  • Offices of Certified Public Accountants3 loans

Industry-specific pricing and diligence live in the Guides. Where the buyable targets sit in Rhode Island, by county, is in the Rhode Island buying guide.

By Metro Area in Rhode Island

  • Providence-Warwick, RI-MA

    137 purchase loans, median $474k. Bought most: Beer, Wine, and Liquor Retailers. Most active lender: Beacon Bank and Trust (16).

Every metro area that drew 20 purchase loans, with three lenders each, is in the metro table.

Method & Source

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