LMMMAlower middle market M&A

GA · NAICS sector 44-45 · 268 financed acquisitions

$479MCapital deployed

Retail Trade in Georgia

268 retail trade businesses in Georgia were bought with SBA 7(a) acquisition financing since FY2019, carrying $479M of bank debt. The median deal was financed with $1,121,500 over 12.5 years at 7.25%.

§1

Volume and price

What retail trade businesses in Georgia financed by an SBA 7(a) acquisition loan actually cost, and how many of them there were.

Financed acquisitions268Disbursed loans, FY2019 to date
Capital deployed$479MGross approval, all years
Median loan$1,121,500Half above, half below
Interquartile range$533k - $2.8MMiddle half of deals
Median rate7.25%268 loans with a recorded rate
Median term12.5 years268 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 = 268 financed acquisitions.

Loan size distribution
Size bandAcquisitionsShare
Under $250k197.1%
$250k to $500k3814.2%
$500k to $1M6825.4%
$1M to $2M5721.3%
$2M to $3.5M3312.3%
$3.5M to $5M2710.1%
$5M and above269.7%
All268100.0%

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 maximum83.0%
Exactly 10 yearsThe standard goodwill-only note12044.8%
10 to 20 yearsMixed collateral228.2%
20 years and overReal property financed with the business11844.0%

44.8% of loans here run exactly ten years and 44.0% run twenty years or more. n = 268 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 cancelled12.7%39 of 307 approvals never disbursed
Charged off, FY2019-FY2021 cohort1.71%2 of 117 funded loans
Jobs recorded2,324Jobs supported, as reported by the lender at approval
Franchised20.1%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

Counties
CountyAcquisitionsShare
Fulton4516.8%
Gwinnett2810.4%
Dekalb259.3%
Cobb166.0%
Hall103.7%
Forsyth93.4%
Douglas83.0%
Fayette72.6%
Lenders
LenderAcquisitionsShare
Metro City Bank6925.7%
Live Oak Banking Company124.5%
Renasant Bank93.4%
United Community Bank83.0%
Pinnacle Bank83.0%
First Community Bank83.0%
Citizens Bank72.6%
Open Bank72.6%
§6

Compare

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The figures above describe retail trade businesses in Georgia 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.

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