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Home Services SBA Financing: An Independent Sponsor's Counsel

Securities and M&A counsel for independent sponsors structuring home services transactions, from LOI to close to the capital markets that open up afterward.

EV range $8M to $80M EV EBITDA $2M to $15M Audience Independent Sponsor
The deal context

An independent sponsor closing home services transactions in the $8M to $80M EV range has a defined set of moves at the SBA Financing stage. Most of them are not in a generic M&A textbook.

The typical home services platform sits at $8M to $80M EV with EBITDA in the $2M to $15M range. The thesis runs on regional roll-ups of HVAC, plumbing, and electrical operators. The cleanest home services deals close in 60 days from LOI. The mess is almost always in the licenses, not the financials.

The moves

How SBA Financing actually gets structured.

  1. Confirm eligibility against SBA size standards before signing the LOI.

  2. Structure personal guarantees with care; SBA lenders require them but they can be narrowed.

  3. Plan the seller note as on-standby debt, supporting the SBA loan covenant package.

  4. Time the SBA approval process into the closing schedule; allow 90 days from full application.

  5. In home services, layer in working capital peg that survives a slow February as part of the SBA Financing workstream.

The common mistake

Promising the seller an SBA-funded close in 60 days. SBA does not move at LOI speed.

Jason's take
"SBA debt is the cheapest money in the independent sponsor market. The trade is paperwork and time."
Jason Powell · SBA Financing
Capital after close

The deal is one thing. The capital that opens up after close is another.

Capital after close is where the IRR actually gets made. The right introductions at month nine through month thirty are where this practice works as hard as it does at the LOI.

MONTH 18
Senior refi
MONTH 24
Dividend recap
MONTH 36
Growth equity
YEAR 4–5
Strategic exit
TALK TO JASON

An LOI on the desk, a home services target, and a SBA Financing question worth a real conversation.

Twenty minutes of practitioner-grade input from a securities attorney whose first move is to read the deal, not the engagement letter.