Live Oak Banking Company: SBA business acquisition lending record

What this tells a borrower

• Deal size it funds. Half of its acquisition loans fell between $350,000 and $2,080,000. If your deal sits well outside that band, this lender may be less practiced at it.
• Geographic reach. California is the largest state (12% of loans). Loans appear in at least 15 states, which points to a national lender.
• Industry concentration. Insurance Agencies and Brokerages is 4% of its acquisition loans. The mix is spread across several industries.
• Overall 7(a) volume. 10,465 SBA 7(a) loans of any purpose since FY2020, totaling $14B. 80% of its acquisition loans were processed under the Preferred Lenders Program.
• Franchise share. 18% of its acquisition loans involved a franchise brand, against 18% for all lenders.
• Seasoned performance. Of its loans from FY2018 to FY2021: 3.1% charged off, 13% lower than the 3.5% national average.

How Live Oak Banking Company compares

The median for Live Oak Banking Company acquisition loans is $945,000, well above the $645,250 median for all SBA-financed acquisitions nationally.

The middle half runs $350,000 to $2,080,000, against $283,000 to $1,465,000 nationally; the median term is 10 years, the same as the national median; the average initial rate is 7.74%, in line with the 7.76% national average.

Seasoned loans were charged off at 3.1%, below the 3.5% rate for all acquisition loans.

Loan size distribution

Most Live Oak Banking Company acquisition loans (52%) were under $1M, and the largest single band is $350K to under $1M at 30%, against 33% of all acquisition loans.

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

State concentration

California made 12% of its loans and the top three states together made 31%. It made three or more loans in 50 of the 51 states where it lends. Its largest industry, Insurance Agencies and Brokerages, is 4% of its acquisition loans.

Recent activity

In FY2025 and FY2026 combined, 1,383 Live Oak Banking Company acquisition loans were approved. That is 22% more than the 1,131 approved in FY2023 and FY2024. The median was $860,000, slightly below the $945,000 median across all years.

Live Oak Banking Company acquisition loans by year

How often do these acquisition loans fail?

Of the 1,665 Live Oak Banking Company acquisition loans approved from FY2018 to FY2021 (the seasoned cohort, every loan at least about five years old), 51 have been charged off by the SBA, a rate of 3.1% by loan count and 2.1% by dollars. 866 have already been paid in full.

For comparison, the charge-off rate across all SBA 7(a) acquisition loans in the same cohort is 3.5%, so Live Oak Banking Company is 13% lower than the acquisition-loan average. 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.

Franchise brands financed

Related

• California acquisitions
• Texas acquisitions
• Florida acquisitions
• Insurance Agencies and Brokerages
• Home Health Care Services
• Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors
• All lenders

Figures are aggregates of public SBA data. This page is not provided or endorsed by Live Oak Banking Company.