Live Oak Bank
At a Glance
Start your lender conversations here, then still get a second term sheet elsewhere.
- Pricing
- Custom Pricing, Loan products (no fee to engage). SBA 7(a) up to $5M, with combination structures that carry a larger purchase past the cap and are sized to the deal; free weekly M&A office hours for buyers targeting $1M–$12M businesses.
- Best For
- Buyers of $1M+ businesses who want the most experienced SBA acquisition lender in their corner from day one
- In the Federal File
- 769 change-of-ownership loans in FY2025, 2nd most in the country, averaging $1.3M each, at an average initial rate of 7.71%. Computed from the SBA's own loan-level data, not from anything the lender publishes.
- Track Record
- The SBA's number-one 7(a) lender by dollars, with a dedicated search-fund practice.
- Type
- Bank (lends directly)
- Footprint
- Nationwide.
- 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.
- Silent on the acquisition loan, and the reason it looks otherwise is worth recording. Five different starting points appear across five desks, from ten thousand on one vertical to fifty million on lender finance, and a fast non-real-estate lane runs to three hundred and fifty thousand. None of them is this product. Its own acquisition page gives a ceiling and no floor.
- Searcher Practice
- A dedicated searcher and acquisition practice, handled remotely.
- A named program with its own heading, SBA Combination Financing, opening with the project that exceeds the 7(a) five million limit and pairing a 7(a) of up to $5M with a conventional loan sized to need plus a line of credit. The earlier read found no total; the later one found one, Up to $9 MM combination, beside enterprise values of $7 to $10 million and potentially higher. The figure the SOP recorded as gone is back.
- Practice Lending
- A practice lending program that names buying a practice.
- Its healthcare, veterinary and pharmacy pages offer practice loans to dentists, optometrists, veterinarians and pharmacists, and name the acquisition of an existing veterinary practice or pharmacy; the pharmacy page prints real estate terms of 20 to 25 years.
- Published Terms
- 7(a) to the $5M cap, paired with a conventional loan sized to the deal and a line of credit where needed.
- Past the SBA Cap
- Sponsor Finance: EBITDA $2 to 15 million. $5 to $25 million hold size, with capital markets capabilities up to $100 million.
- Who the Desk Says It Lends To
- Private equity firms and institutional investors.
- National.
- Roadmap Stages
- 3. Set Up & Fund the Search5. Diligence & Close the Deal
Where Its Loans Went
2259 change-of-ownership loans across 55 of the industries the loan file ranks, the largest being Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors at 165.
- Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors165 loans
- Insurance Agencies and Brokerages151 loans
- Home Health Care Services141 loans
- General Automotive Repair131 loans
- Offices of Certified Public Accountants130 loans
- Pharmacies and Drug Retailers118 loans
- All Other Specialty Trade Contractors112 loans
- Funeral Homes and Funeral Services104 loans
- Limited-Service Restaurants90 loans
- Other Accounting Services64 loans
The 10 largest of 55 ranked industries this lender appears in. Counts cover FY2020 through FY2025, from the SBA's loan-level file.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- SBA's #1 7(a) lender FY2025: $2.8B across 2,280 approvals, including 679 acquisition loans totaling $896M, which means deep pattern recognition on deals like yours
- Names a 60-day average funding timeline for an acquisition loan on its own page
- Free weekly M&A office hours open to any buyer
- Can structure past the $5M 7(a) cap with combination loans
Cons
- Acquisition practice skews larger (FY2025 average acquisition loan was $1.32M), so sub-$500k deals aren't the sweet spot
- Its own marketing is inconsistent on the office-hours deal range ($1M floor on one page, $500k on the registration page)
- The bankers who built its search-fund practice have moved on (Heather Endresen to found Viso Business Capital in 2023; Lisa Forrest and Sarah Andrews to Northwest Bank in 2026). The volume leadership is current, the team behind it is not the one its reputation was built on
What Searchers Say
Consistently the first lender named in searcher communities; a Searchfunder thread specifically highlights its self-funded searcher office hours. Volume claims confirmed against SBA FY2025 data; product pages verified live.
How to Approach
Live Oak 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