Huntington Bank (SBA lending)
At a Glance
Worth a term sheet if you're in its footprint or your deal is on the smaller side; pair it with an acquisition specialist so volume competes with pattern recognition.
- Pricing
- Custom Pricing, Loan products; no fee to engage. SBA 7(a) up to the $5M program cap. The bank's own release reports 7,577 loans totaling about $1.53B in its fiscal 2024, an average near $200k, so volume skews to smaller loans than acquisition-specialist banks. Rates are quoted per deal and not published.
- Best For
- Buyers in or near its branch footprint (it reports leading 7(a) counts in Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and West Virginia) and smaller acquisitions that specialist banks may not prioritize
- In the Federal File
- 878 change-of-ownership loans in FY2025, 1st most in the country, averaging $802k each, at an average initial rate of 8.78%. Computed from the SBA's own loan-level data, not from anything the lender publishes.
- Track Record
- The most prolific SBA 7(a) lender by loan count, seven straight years at number one.
- Type
- Bank (lends directly)
- Footprint
- 21 states, and leads 7(a) loan count in nine of them. It publishes a region rather than a state list, so ask on the first call whether it lends where you are buying.
- Deal Size
- Up to $2M.
- Searcher Practice
- A general SBA lending desk, branch-driven.
- Published Terms
- None on the pages this review read; the path in is a conversation with a banker rather than a rate sheet.
- Roadmap Stages
- 3. Set Up & Fund the Search5. Diligence & Close the Deal
Where Its Loans Went
1341 change-of-ownership loans across 58 of the industries the loan file ranks, the largest being Full-Service Restaurants at 192.
- Full-Service Restaurants192 loans
- All Other Specialty Trade Contractors90 loans
- Limited-Service Restaurants81 loans
- Landscaping Services60 loans
- Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels57 loans
- Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors47 loans
- General Automotive Repair46 loans
- Private Mail Centers46 loans
- Offices of Dentists40 loans
- All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services33 loans
The 10 largest of 58 ranked industries this lender appears in. Counts cover FY2020 through FY2025, from the SBA's loan-level file.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Highest 7(a) loan count in the country for seven consecutive years, per its own investor-relations release
- Process honed on thousands of loans a year; SBA is a core line of business, not a side desk
- Full commercial-bank relationship (deposits, treasury, lines) available after close
- Reports leading 7(a) volume in nine states, useful if your target sits in its footprint
Cons
- Branch-driven and strongest in its home region; the process is not built as a nationwide remote experience
- Average loan size near $200k means the machine is tuned for smaller loans; a $2M+ acquisition may get more pattern recognition at a specialist bank
- No dedicated searcher or acquisition lending page, so expect to educate your banker on search-style structures
What Searchers Say
Searchfunder hosts dedicated threads on borrowing from Huntington, and third-party lender roundups consistently place it at the top of 7(a) count rankings with a Midwest skew and small average loans. It markets far less to searchers than Live Oak or Byline; sentiment specific to acquisition deals is thin rather than negative.
How to Approach
Huntington 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