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. The FOIA loan file 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.
- Track Record
- Seven state top-fives in our acquisition file, at the cheapest average rate near the top of it.
- Type
- Bank (lends directly)
- Footprint
- Nine states on its own locator: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Tennessee, and Wisconsin. It claims a top-three SBA rank across that footprint and first by volume in Minnesota and Wisconsin. It lends beyond the states it names, so one it does not name is worth asking about rather than ruling out.
- 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.
- States a floor: the smallest loan it publishes is $15k.
- One sentence on the SBA page giving the range in both directions, which is rare here: most of this shelf gives a ceiling that is really the program's and no floor at all.
- 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
- 3. Set Up & Fund the Search5. Diligence & Close the Deal
Where Its Loans Went
110 change-of-ownership loans across 11 of the industries the loan file ranks, the largest being All Other Specialty Trade Contractors at 28.
- All Other Specialty Trade Contractors28 loans
- Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors15 loans
- All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services11 loans
- All Other Miscellaneous Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing10 loans
- Offices of Chiropractors9 loans
- Janitorial Services7 loans
- Other Miscellaneous Durable Goods Merchant Wholesalers7 loans
- Advertising Agencies6 loans
- Electrical Contractors and Other Wiring Installation Contractors6 loans
- Engineering Services6 loans
The 10 largest of 11 ranked industries this lender appears in. Counts cover FY2020 through FY2025, from the SBA's loan-level file.
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 the FOIA loan 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