Port 51 Lending
At a Glance
The certainty trade stated in numbers: a published 27-day close and 90% closing rate against a rate near the file's top. Right when the deal is clean and the calendar is the risk, and worth pairing with a cheap desk's quote so the speed premium is a decision rather than a default.
- Pricing
- Custom Pricing, Loan products; no fee to engage. Unusually published for the category: rates at WSJ Prime plus a spread up to 2.75%, ten-year terms with no prepayment penalty (real-estate terms to 25 years with a stepped penalty), an average close of 27 days, a 90% closing rate, and companion structures to $6.5M. Our FOIA computation shows 65 change-of-ownership loans totaling $109.3M in FY2025 at a $1.68M average and a 9.87% average initial rate, near the top of the twenty-five most active, which is what the published spread prices out to.
- Best For
- Buyers anywhere who need a fast, high-certainty close, or a deal in one of its named industry programs, and will pay the nonbank rate for it
- In the Federal File
- 65 change-of-ownership loans in FY2025, 19th most in the country, averaging $1.7M each, at an average initial rate of 9.87%. Computed from the SBA's own loan-level data, not from anything the lender publishes.
- Type
- Non-bank lender (lends its own money, no deposits)
- Footprint
- Nationwide.
- Deal Size
- $500k to above $5M.
- Searcher Practice
- A general SBA lending desk, handled remotely.
- Published Terms
- WSJ Prime plus up to 2.75%, ten years with no prepayment penalty, a published 27-day average close, companion loans to $6.5M.
- Roadmap Stages
- 2. Set Up & Fund the Search5. Diligence & Close the Deal
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Publishes the numbers most desks keep private: a 27-day average close, a 90% closing rate, and the rate formula itself
- Business acquisitions, management buyouts, and partner buyouts named first among its loan uses
- Industry programs across searcher trades: gas stations, convenience stores, car washes, childcare, medical and veterinary offices
- Companion loans to $6.5M carry a deal past the 7(a) cap without losing the guaranteed core
Cons
- The speed is priced in: a 9.87% average initial rate in our file, near the top of the twenty-five most active
- A young book: 65 of its 106 six-year loans in our file were written in FY2025
- An automated, application-first process is the opposite of a relationship desk; a complicated story needs a human early
- No searcher-community footprint to weigh against its own claims
What Searchers Say
The close-time, closing-rate, spread, and companion-loan figures are its own page's; our FOIA computation independently counts 65 change-of-ownership loans in FY2025, nineteenth by loan count among the file's twenty-five most active, with most of its six-year book written last year, and prices the book at 9.87%, consistent with the published prime-plus spread.
How to Approach
Port 51 Lending is a non-bank lender, so this is how that kind of lender comes in, what it weighs, and how to arrive ready.
The Typical Arc
- An application straight to the lender, with no branch relationship to build first.
- Its own underwrite, funded from its own balance sheet rather than deposits.
- A term sheet, then closing on the SBA's timeline like any 7(a).
What It Weighs
- The same coverage math a bank runs, since the SBA's rules are the SBA's rules.
- Whether the deal fits a lane it already lends in, which is usually wider than a regional bank's.
- How the file reads on paper, because there is no relationship to lean on.
How to Prepare
- Model the payment and coverage before you apply. SBA Acquisition Calculator
- Underwrite the specific deal end to end. Underwrite a Deal
- Price it against a bank's offer, since non-bank rates often run higher. Loan Terms Worksheet
Put It to Work
Lender Match puts this lender beside the others, filtered by your deal.