Buying a Primrose Schools franchise: SBA acquisition loan data

What this tells a buyer

• Price range to expect. Loan size tracks purchase price. Half of Primrose Schools resale loans landed between $1,587,525 and $4,946,000.
• Lender experience exists. Live Oak Banking Company alone has financed 21 Primrose Schools resales.
• Guaranty. The SBA guaranteed 76% of the dollars lent here.
• What the file leaves out. The SBA file does not record franchisor transfer terms or fees.

How Primrose Schools compares

The median for Primrose Schools resale loans is $3,044,000, well above the $763,300 median for child care services and well above the $645,250 median for all SBA-financed acquisitions nationally.

The middle half runs $1,587,525 to $4,946,000, against $283,000 to $1,465,000 nationally; the median term is 25 years, longer than the national median of 10 years; the average initial rate is 6.21%, below the 7.76% national average.

None of the seasoned loans were charged off, against 0.8% for child care services and 3.5% for all acquisition loans.

Loan size distribution

Most Primrose Schools resale loans (81%) were $1M or more, and the largest single band is $2M and over at 69%, against 17% of all acquisition loans.

Bands are fixed dollar ranges chosen for comparison. They are not SBA program limits.

Lender concentration

Live Oak Banking Company made 34% of Primrose Schools resale loans, and the top three lenders together made 63%. 3 of the 20 lenders involved made three or more. Only 3 lenders have repeat experience here. That is a rough guide to how many banks have seen this kind of deal before.

Recent activity

In FY2025 and FY2026 combined, 16 Primrose Schools resale loans were approved. Fewer than 10 loans were approved in FY2023 and FY2024, so no change is computed. The median was $1,885,500, below the $3,044,000 median across all years.

Financing a Primrose Schools resale: what lenders financed

The median SBA 7(a) loan for a Primrose Schools resale was $3,044,000 across 62 loans (FY2018 to FY2026). Live Oak Banking Company, America First Federal Credit Union and Wells Fargo Bank National Association have financed the most Primrose Schools resales. Of 27 seasoned loans (FY2018 to FY2021), none were charged off, against the 3.5% average for all SBA acquisition loans.

Primrose Schools acquisition loans by year

How often do these acquisition loans fail?

Of the 27 Primrose Schools acquisition loans approved from FY2018 to FY2021 (the seasoned cohort, every loan at least about five years old), none have been charged off by the SBA. 13 have already been paid in full.

For comparison, Primrose Schools has none charged off, against the 3.5% average across all SBA 7(a) acquisition loans in the same cohort. Non-acquisition 7(a) loans (every other stated purpose) approved FY2018 to FY2021 charged off at 6.2%.

"Charged off" is the SBA's final loss action on a defaulted loan after collection efforts. It lags default by a year or more, which is why only older cohorts are measured. It is not the same as a delinquency rate, and loans still outstanding can still fail. See charge-off in the glossary.

How lenders classify Primrose Schools

Lenders code each loan to a NAICS industry. For Primrose Schools the codes used were:

Related

• All Child Care Services acquisitions
• Texas acquisitions
• Georgia acquisitions
• North Carolina acquisitions
• Live Oak Banking Company
• America First Federal Credit Union
• Wells Fargo Bank National Association
• All franchise brands

Brand name as recorded by lenders in the SBA file: "Primrose Schools" (franchise code S1353). Figures are aggregates of public SBA data and are not provided or endorsed by the franchisor.