First Commonwealth Bank (SBA lending)
At a Glance
The show-your-work desk: ten real closings with amounts, the 85% acquisition figure in writing, and a partner-buyout line at up to 100%. In its two states start here beside the specialists, and read the Texas and Florida closings before assuming you are too far away.
- Pricing
- Custom Pricing, Loan products; no fee to engage. The uses page publishes the figures the category hides: up to 85% financing for the acquisition of a business, up to $5 million in bank lending, and up to 100% financing on a partner buyout; no rates anywhere. The worked-deals page shows ten closings with amounts, three of them business acquisitions, $4,950,000 for an Ohio technology equipment supplier, $2,248,000 for a Texas automotive repair acquisition with real estate, and $678,200 for a Florida medical spa. The FOIA loan file places it third in Ohio with 48 and fifth in Pennsylvania with 68 change-of-ownership loans across the file's six years.
- Best For
- Buyers in Pennsylvania and Ohio who want a Preferred Lender that shows its closed deals with figures, and partner buyouts anywhere its remote closings reach
- Track Record
- Third in Ohio with 48 and fifth in Pennsylvania with 68 change-of-ownership loans across the file's six years; its worked-deal page shows Texas and Florida closings too.
- Type
- Bank (lends directly)
- Footprint
- Pennsylvania and Ohio in its own masthead; its worked-deal page shows Texas and Florida closings, so reach past the branches is proven rather than claimed. It lends beyond the states it names, so one it does not name is worth asking about rather than ruling out.
- Approval Authority
- Says it holds SBA Preferred Lender status, so it can approve the loan itself rather than sending the file to the agency for a second look.
- Deal Size
- $500k to $5M.
- Publishes no floor. Most of this shelf gives a ceiling that is really the agency's own cap, and no minimum at all.
- Searcher Practice
- A general SBA lending desk, branch-driven.
- Published Terms
- Up to 85% financing for a business acquisition and up to 100% on a partner buyout, to $5 million in bank lending; ten worked deals with amounts published, no rates.
- Roadmap Stages
- 3. Set Up & Fund the Search5. Diligence & Close the Deal
Where Its Loans Went
5 of its 5 change-of-ownership loans in the ranked industries went to one: Automotive Body, Paint, and Interior Repair and Maintenance.
- Automotive Body, Paint, and Interior Repair and Maintenance5 loans
Counts cover FY2020 through FY2025, from the SBA's loan-level file.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Ten worked SBA deals with real amounts on its own page, three of them business acquisitions to $4.95 million, candor almost nobody offers
- Publishes the acquisition figure that matters, up to 85% financing for buying a business, and up to 100% on a partner buyout
- A Preferred Lender making final credit decisions in-house, claiming more than 55 years of SBA practice
- Texas and Florida closings on its own page prove the desk lends well past its Pennsylvania and Ohio branches
Cons
- No rates published anywhere on the SBA pages; the worked deals show sizes and purposes, never pricing
- The 85% financing line is a ceiling, not a promise; underwriting decides what ythe FOIA loan file gets
- A Pennsylvania and Ohio bank by masthead, so a far-from-branch file runs on the remote process rather than a local officer
- No Searchfunder or Reddit thread discusses the lender, so there is no practitioner account of how it handles a search-fund file
What Searchers Say
The 85% acquisition financing, the $5 million bank lending line, the 100% partner-buyout option, the Preferred Lender status with final credit authority, and all ten worked deals with their amounts are its own pages'. The FOIA loan file independently places it third in Ohio and fifth in Pennsylvania for change-of-ownership loans across the file's six years; the Texas and Florida closings on its own page corroborate lending beyond the branch states.
How to Approach
First Commonwealth Bank (SBA lending) is a bank, so this is how that kind of lender comes in, what it weighs, and how to arrive ready.
The Typical Arc
- A prequalification on you and the target, often from the first email.
- A full application and the bank's own underwrite of the deal.
- A term sheet, then closing on the SBA's timeline, commonly two to four months.
What It Weighs
- Whether the business's cash flow covers the debt with room to spare.
- Your experience relative to the business you are buying.
- Your equity injection and how clean the financials are.
How to Prepare
- Model the payment and coverage before you call. SBA Acquisition Calculator
- Underwrite the specific deal end to end. Underwrite a Deal
- Show where every dollar comes from and goes. Sources & Uses Builder