Gulf Coast Bank & Trust
At a Glance
The strongest acquisition desk the queue has produced: nationwide, Preferred, buying a business first and its largest trade, with the advance rate and terms in print; its own pages disagree on two figures.
- Pricing
- Custom Pricing, Loan products. Its SBA page prints acquisition and partner buyout loans up to $5,000,000 with advance rates up to ninety percent and terms of seven to fifteen years, and no limit on the goodwill it will finance. Its questions page says the equity injection can be as little as ten percent of project costs, that it charges no points, that the borrower pays the guaranty, packaging and closing costs, and that there is no prepayment penalty on terms up to ten years. A variable rate is the prime rate plus a spread in most circumstances, by the same page.
- Best For
- A buyer anywhere in the country who wants an SBA desk that treats buying a business or buying out a partner as its main trade and publishes its advance rate, terms and fees.
- Track Record
- A South Louisiana bank whose SBA division, based in Dallas by its home page, is a nationwide Preferred Lender with ten named people in ten markets, and says acquisition loans are its largest class.
- Type
- Bank (lends directly)
- Footprint
- Nationwide by its SBA division's own pages, with loan production offices in ten markets from Dallas to Miami; the bank itself has twenty-three locations in South Louisiana, Florida, Alabama and Mississippi by its locations page.
- 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.
- No floor on any page; its SBA page and its questions page print the program's ceiling for acquisition and buyout loans.
- Searcher Practice
- A general SBA lending desk, branch-driven.
- Its questions page says it has no online application, that a borrower need not be a customer, and that it lends nationwide through loan production offices; a phone line, a form and an email for the desk.
- No page names a search fund or a searcher; its SBA page puts the purchase of an existing business first, its questions page calls acquisition loans its largest class, and its home page names business brokers and investment bankers as referral sources.
- Published Terms
- Acquisitions and buyouts to the program's ceiling, advance rates up to ninety percent, seven to fifteen years, no points, a variable rate at prime plus a spread in most circumstances, and no prepayment penalty on terms to ten years by its questions page.
- Roadmap Stages
- 5. Diligence & Close the Deal
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Calls itself a nationwide SBA Preferred Lender and explains the delegated authority that comes with it
- Its first purpose is to purchase an existing business, and its questions page says acquisition loans are the largest share of its originations
- Publishes advance rates up to ninety percent, terms of seven to fifteen years and no limit on goodwill for an acquisition
- Ten people on its team page, nine of them business development officers and one its national sales manager, with titles, an office phone and a mobile each, in ten markets from Dallas to Miami
Cons
- No online application; a credit decision in seven to ten days of a complete package and a close in forty-five to sixty days, by its questions page
- Its own pages disagree with each other: the prepayment penalty ends at ten years on one and fifteen on another, and an acquisition term is up to ten years on one and seven to fifteen on another
- The bank's own site counts its lenders and its locations three ways
- Names no search fund, searcher or acquisition entrepreneur
What Searchers Say
Read on the bank's business lending, about, contact, news and locations pages and on its SBA division's home, SBA loans, deals, people, resources, testimonials, questions, contact and chief executive pages, and one article on buying a business. No searcher-forum discussion of the desk was found.
How to Approach
Gulf Coast Bank & Trust 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