LMMMAlower middle market M&A

NAICS sector 81 · 4,326 financed acquisitions

$4.0bnCapital deployed

Other Services (except Public Administration)

Since FY2019, 4,326 businesses in this sector were bought using an SBA 7(a) acquisition loan, together carrying $4.0bn of bank debt. The median deal was financed with $571,250 over 10 years at 7.75%.

§1

Volume and price

What businesses in other services (except public administration) financed by an SBA 7(a) acquisition loan actually cost, and how many of them there were.

Financed acquisitions4,326Disbursed loans, FY2019 to date
Capital deployed$4.0bnGross approval, all years
Median loan$571,250Half above, half below
Interquartile range$266k - $1.2MMiddle half of deals
Median rate7.75%4,324 loans with a recorded rate
Median term10 years4,326 loans with a recorded term

Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA loan-level extract, change-of-ownership approvals, FY2019 onward. Data as of 30 June 2026. n = 4,326 financed acquisitions.

Loan size distribution
Size bandAcquisitionsShare
Under $250k96422.3%
$250k to $500k98622.8%
$500k to $1M1,06124.5%
$1M to $2M79618.4%
$2M to $3.5M3548.2%
$3.5M to $5M1262.9%
$5M and above390.9%
All4,326100.0%

The 7(a) programme caps a single loan at $5M, so the top band is a ceiling of the instrument, not of the market. Deals above it are financed conventionally and do not appear in this file at all.

§2

How the paper was structured

Loan terms here are not spread smoothly. They spike at exactly ten years and again at exactly twenty-five, with very little in between. Those two points are the programme's maturity ceilings, and which one applies depends on what secures the loan, so a term running past ten years indicates real property was financed alongside the business.

Term structure
TermWhat it indicatesAcquisitionsShare
Under 10 yearsShorter than the goodwill maximum43510.1%
Exactly 10 yearsThe standard goodwill-only note2,47157.1%
10 to 20 yearsMixed collateral3337.7%
20 years and overReal property financed with the business1,08725.1%

57.1% of loans here run exactly ten years and 25.1% run twenty years or more. n = 4,326 loans with a recorded term.

§3

What happened next

Two outcomes are visible in the file: approvals that never funded, and funded loans that later charged off. Both are facts about deals, not forecasts.

Approvals cancelled9.0%426 of 4,752 approvals never disbursed
Charged off, FY2019-FY2021 cohort2.80%50 of 1,784 funded loans
Jobs recorded48,081Jobs supported, as reported by the lender at approval
Franchised14.2%Share of acquisitions carrying a franchise name

The charge-off share is cumulative as of 30 June 2026 for loans approved in FY2019-FY2021. Those loans are five to seven years into terms that are usually ten years, so the figure is a floor and the lifetime rate will be higher. It is not comparable to a rate computed over a fully matured cohort, and the site does not publish one for later years for that reason.

§4

By fiscal year

FY19FY20FY21FY22FY23FY24FY25FY26*

* FY2026 is incomplete. The extract closes 30 June 2026, nine months into a fiscal year that ends 30 September, and some FY2026 approvals have not yet disbursed. Do not read the last column as a decline.

§5

Industry groups inside this sector

A sector median hides a lot. These are the four-digit groups within it that clear the reporting floor on their own.

Industry groups within Other Services (except Public Administration)
Industry groupAcquisitionsCapitalMedian loanMedian rateMedian termCancelled
8111 Automotive Repair and Maintenance1,757$1.8bn$664,3007.50%10 years8.6%
8121 Personal Care Services728$443M$350,0008.00%10 years9.0%
8129 Other Personal Services608$487M$479,5008.25%10 years8.8%
8123 Drycleaning and Laundry Services547$406M$450,0008.00%10 years12.2%
8122 Death Care Services304$483M$1,360,7006.75%25 years4.7%
8114 Personal and Household Goods Repair and Maintenance165$116M$426,5008.25%10 years11.3%
8113 Commercial and Industrial Machinery and Equipment (except Automotive and Electronic) Repair and Maintenance152$171M$859,5007.83%10 years7.3%
8112 Electronic and Precision Equipment Repair and Maintenance62$68.5M$492,0007.25%10 years7.5%
§6

Where this sector changes hands

States with enough deals in this sector to report on their own.

Other Services (except Public Administration) acquisitions by state
StateAcquisitionsCapitalMedian loanMedian rateMedian termCancelled
TX Texas480$552M$796,8507.75%10 years6.4%
CA California412$435M$540,0008.00%10 years12.0%
FL Florida280$289M$636,5008.25%10 years10.3%
PA Pennsylvania183$145M$540,0007.75%10 years5.2%
CO Colorado180$156M$589,0007.50%10 years9.1%
IL Illinois165$153M$600,0008.00%10 years11.3%
NY New York164$158M$527,5007.75%10 years18.4%
GA Georgia157$184M$650,0007.49%10 years7.1%
MN Minnesota156$115M$418,9506.25%10 years4.3%
NJ New Jersey139$124M$647,0008.00%10 years10.3%
OH Ohio137$108M$468,6008.25%10 years8.7%
MI Michigan136$128M$669,6507.50%10 years9.3%
MO Missouri125$108M$458,0008.00%10 years8.8%
AZ Arizona123$111M$739,0008.25%10 years6.1%
NC North Carolina121$114M$621,0008.19%10 years5.5%
WI Wisconsin118$84.8M$445,2007.00%10 years6.3%
WA Washington110$99.2M$628,6508.00%10 years6.0%
IN Indiana107$94.9M$484,9007.00%10 years5.3%
MA Massachusetts106$72.6M$365,0007.00%10 years8.6%
VA Virginia75$81.2M$772,0008.20%10 years11.8%
MD Maryland64$64.0M$576,0008.38%10 years11.1%
SC South Carolina63$58.4M$700,0008.25%10 years7.4%
NV Nevada51$46.7M$525,0007.72%10 years8.9%
TN Tennessee45$43.5M$660,0008.75%10 years11.8%
OK Oklahoma44$35.6M$515,0006.78%10 years4.3%
KS Kansas42$31.4M$489,2506.38%10 years10.6%
OR Oregon42$39.2M$547,0006.88%10 years6.7%
UT Utah41$47.7M$559,4008.00%10 years10.9%
CT Connecticut40$35.3M$501,2508.00%10 years4.8%
KY Kentucky39$32.6M$420,0007.75%10 years4.9%
§7

Concentration

Most active states
StateAcquisitionsShare
TX Texas48011.1%
CA California4129.5%
FL Florida2806.5%
PA Pennsylvania1834.2%
CO Colorado1804.2%
IL Illinois1653.8%
NY New York1643.8%
GA Georgia1573.6%
MN Minnesota1563.6%
NJ New Jersey1393.2%
OH Ohio1373.2%
MI Michigan1363.1%

A lender without a link wrote fewer acquisition loans than the reporting floor and has no page of its own. Shares are of the 4,326 financed acquisitions in this sector.

§8

What to read next

If you are selling

Thinking about selling

The figures above describe other services (except public administration) businesses at the size the 7(a) programme reaches. They describe a market, not your business. FIH advises owners of privately held companies on sale processes, and the first conversation costs nothing and commits you to nothing.

Speak to an adviser

If you are buying

Register what you are looking for

FIH is an advisory firm that generally acts for sellers, so registering here does not make you a client and no business is listed or offered for sale on this site. It records what you buy, where, at what price you can transact and how a purchase would be funded. It is free, it commits you to nothing, and no deal flow is promised in return.

Register your criteria

Figures on this page are SBA loan amounts, not sale prices. Nothing on this site is an offer, a solicitation, a valuation of any business, or investment advice, and no statement here promises a transaction, a price or a result.