First Horizon Bank
At a Glance
A Preferred Lender whose own words put a conventional loan beside the guaranteed one above the ceiling and name a partner buyout; the desk is real and the site hides its people behind a script.
- Pricing
- Custom Pricing, Loan products. Its SBA page restates the program's 7(a) ceiling and says companion non-SBA financing may be available above it, an Express line from $25,000 to the program's ceiling, and 504 project financing up to $13 million, printed on its page as a loan amount. Terms are twenty-five years for real estate and ten for all other purposes, with a blended term where real estate is under half the proceeds. No prepayment penalty under fifteen years, with three weeks' notice for a large paydown, and the program's five, three and one percent penalty on longer terms by its questions page. Its own term loan runs from $25,000 to $3 million secured.
- Best For
- A buyer in the Southeast who wants a Preferred Lender that says in its own words it can put a conventional loan beside the SBA loan above the ceiling, and will work through a branch banker and a web form.
- Track Record
- A Memphis bank, an SBA Preferred Lender with a dedicated SBA customer experience specialist and a team of SBA bankers by its own pages, whose site renders by script.
- Type
- Bank (lends directly)
- Footprint
- No page states where it lends. Its published locations sit in Tennessee, North Carolina, Florida, Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, South Carolina, Virginia, Texas, Mississippi and New York, and its SBA lending form lists the same twelve states, from Memphis, Tennessee by its history page. It publishes a region rather than a state list, so ask on the first call whether it lends where you are buying.
- No page lists the states it lends in and none says nationwide; the 7(a) eligibility line is the program's, its published locations sit in twelve states from Tennessee to New York, and its SBA lending form lists the same twelve.
- 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 and up, past the single-loan 7(a) cap.
- Pairs a conventional loan with the 7(a) for a price above the cap.
- Publishes no floor. Most of this shelf gives a ceiling that is really the agency's own cap, and no minimum at all.
- No floor for the 7(a); its SBA page restates the program's ceiling, its Express line starts at $25,000 and its own term loan at $25,000.
- Searcher Practice
- A general SBA lending desk, branch-driven.
- An SBA lending form promising a business banker within two business days, with business acquisition, partner buy-out and partner buy-in among its use options, and one local point of contact by its process page. No online application for the SBA loan, and its banker directory renders only in a browser.
- No page names a search fund or a searcher; its 7(a) list names acquisitions sixth of seven and its questions page names business acquisitions seventh and a partner buyout ninth of eleven uses.
- Published Terms
- The program's ceiling restated with companion financing above it; twenty-five years for real estate and ten for all else; no prepayment penalty under fifteen years; its own term loan from $25,000 to $3 million.
- Roadmap Stages
- 5. Diligence & Close the Deal
Pros and Cons
Pros
- An SBA Preferred Lender in its own words, with a dedicated SBA customer experience specialist and a team of SBA bankers
- Names acquisitions among its 7(a) uses and business acquisitions and a partner buyout on its questions page
- Says companion non-SBA financing may be available for requests above the program's ceiling, and that a conventional loan can sit beside the SBA loan
- Publishes its timeline: one to two weeks to underwrite a complete application and twenty to twenty-five business days to close
Cons
- Its site is a script shell to every reader but a browser, so its SBA banker directory was not read here and no SBA banker is named
- States no lending geography on any page; its footprint is read from its location addresses and the state list on its SBA lending form
- Its 7(a) list puts acquisitions sixth of seven, and its page data carries a migration note reading manual follow-up required
- Names no search fund, searcher or acquisition entrepreneur
What Searchers Say
Read out of the page data behind its SBA loans, questions, process overview, term loans, SBA lending form, small business, commercial banking, specialty finance, about, history and newsroom pages, since the pages themselves render by script. No searcher-forum discussion of the desk was found.
How to Approach
First Horizon Bank 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