LMMMAlower middle market M&A

CA · NAICS sector 72 · 868 financed acquisitions

$888MCapital deployed

Accommodation and Food Services in California

868 accommodation and food services businesses in California were bought with SBA 7(a) acquisition financing since FY2019, carrying $888M of bank debt. The median deal was financed with $453,000 over 10 years at 7.75%.

§1

Volume and price

What accommodation and food services businesses in California financed by an SBA 7(a) acquisition loan actually cost, and how many of them there were.

Financed acquisitions868Disbursed loans, FY2019 to date
Capital deployed$888MGross approval, all years
Median loan$453,000Half above, half below
Interquartile range$248k - $1.1MMiddle half of deals
Median rate7.75%868 loans with a recorded rate
Median term10 years868 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 = 868 financed acquisitions.

Loan size distribution
Size bandAcquisitionsShare
Under $250k22325.7%
$250k to $500k24127.8%
$500k to $1M16018.4%
$1M to $2M10812.4%
$2M to $3.5M606.9%
$3.5M to $5M404.6%
$5M and above364.1%
All868100.0%

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 maximum12714.6%
Exactly 10 yearsThe standard goodwill-only note54662.9%
10 to 20 yearsMixed collateral212.4%
20 years and overReal property financed with the business17420.0%

62.9% of loans here run exactly ten years and 20.0% run twenty years or more. n = 868 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 cancelled11.1%108 of 976 approvals never disbursed
Charged off, FY2019-FY2021 cohort4.22%16 of 379 funded loans
Jobs recorded14,038Jobs supported, as reported by the lender at approval
Franchised31.0%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

Inside this cross-section

Industry groups
Industry groupAcquisitionsShare
7225 Restaurants and Other Eating Places68378.7%
7211 Traveler Accommodation13515.6%
7224 Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)273.1%
7223 Special Food Services182.1%
7212 RV (Recreational Vehicle) Parks and Recreational Camps20.2%
7221 Full-Service Restaurants20.2%
7222 Limited-Service Restaurants10.1%
Counties
CountyAcquisitionsShare
Los Angeles23527.1%
Orange10211.8%
San Bernardino465.3%
San Diego455.2%
Riverside455.2%
Sacramento435.0%
Santa Clara424.8%
Alameda252.9%
Lenders
LenderAcquisitionsShare
Bank of Hope10612.2%
Hanmi Bank687.8%
Plumas Bank485.5%
Open Bank465.3%
United Business Bank435.0%
Celtic Bank Corporation293.3%
Pinnacle Bank273.1%
PCB Bank192.2%
§6

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