Old National Bank (SBA lending)
At a Glance
Worth a term sheet if your target sits in or near its footprint: the combination of delegated authority, two state-leading books, and the cheapest average pricing near the top of our file is hard to beat locally; pair it with a specialist for comparison.
- Pricing
- Custom Pricing, Loan products; no fee to engage. Its page quotes loans from $15,000 to $5 million across the 7(a), Express, and 504 programs. Our FOIA computation shows 87 change-of-ownership 7(a) loans totaling $89.9M in FY2025 at a 7.35% average initial rate, one of the cheaper books among the twenty most active acquisition lenders in the file.
- Best For
- Buyers in the upper Midwest who want a branch relationship with a Preferred Lender that leads its home states' SBA volume and prices on the cheaper side of the acquisition-lending file
- In the Federal File
- 87 change-of-ownership loans in FY2025, 12th most in the country, averaging $1M each, at an average initial rate of 7.35%. Computed from the SBA's own loan-level data, not from anything the lender publishes.
- Type
- Bank (lends directly)
- Footprint
- Upper Midwest branches; its own page claims a top-three SBA rank across its footprint and first by volume in Minnesota and Wisconsin. It publishes a region rather than a state list, so ask on the first call whether it lends where you are buying.
- Deal Size
- $500k to $5M.
- Searcher Practice
- A general SBA lending desk, branch-driven.
- Published Terms
- $15k to $5M across the 7(a), Express, and 504 programs, as a Preferred Lender.
- Roadmap Stages
- 2. Set Up & Fund the Search5. Diligence & Close the Deal
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Preferred Lender Program status, approving on delegated authority
- Its own page claims a top-three SBA rank across its footprint and first by volume in Minnesota and Wisconsin
- The acquisition loans in our FOIA file average a 7.35% initial rate, cheaper than most of the twenty most active lenders
- A deep book: 481 change-of-ownership loans across the file's six years, so the desk has seen deals like yours
Cons
- A branch-driven Midwest bank rather than a built-for-remote national desk
- Publishes no state list for its lending reach, so a buyer outside the upper Midwest should ask early whether the deal travels
- No published rates or searcher-community footprint to compare against the specialist desks
What Searchers Say
Its own SBA page carries the volume claims; third-party SBA league tables consistently place it among the most active Midwest 7(a) lenders. It markets regionally rather than to the searcher community, so there is little practitioner commentary on how it handles a search-fund file.
How to Approach
Old National 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
Put It to Work
Lender Match puts this lender beside the others, filtered by your deal.