Deal Structure for Seller's Note

Member resources:

Frequent asked questions:

What is Searchfunder.com?

Searchfunder.com is an online community of searchers, investors, lenders, brokers and other professionals. Over 80% of those involved in searchfunds maintain a Searchfunder account to help them network, hire, and mentor others.

What are the benefits of membership?

In addition to accessing the most active online network of business buyers, Searchfunder licenses research that is simply not cost effective for individuals. Access over 15,000 industry reports and 50,000 transaction financials. You also get monthly credits for contact information for your company sourcing campaign with the option to purchase more at drastically discounted rates. Searchfunder has pre-purchased access from these data providers in order to empower individual buyers and to help searchers level the playing field versus private equity.

Do you have deals?

While we are primarily a buy-side network, we do have hundreds of brokers that regularly post deals to the community.

Can I find an internship on Searchfunder?

Absolutely! We have the industry's largest intern job board. If you are considering a search, the first step is to help another business buyer so you can hit the ground running.

What does it cost?

Searchfunder is a subscription service. We offer flexible monthly, annual and lifetime memberships.

Monthly

$79 / month

Annual

$19 / month

Lifetime

$432 / once

Those who maintain an account with us for over 4 continuous years are permanently added to the community without the need for a membership.

Do I need an MBA to join?

While a large number of our members come from dedicated programs at Harvard Business School, Stanford GSB, Chicago Booth, and other top programs, searching is no longer reserved for the elite. With the current abundance of dry powder in private equity, and an increasing number of business owners reaching retirement age, good deals rarely go unfunded.

Post a question, deal, job, etc...

Make a post...

Complete registration to post.

by a searcher from University of Pennsylvania - The Wharton School
in Philadelphia, PA, USA

6yrs ago

Deal Structure for Seller's Note

We're looking at a couple of deals where the seller is willing to hold a small note. These are smaller acquisitions ($1M EBITDA), and we want to use SBA thus we want the seller to hold as big of a note as possible.

Can you share any deal structure or negotiation strategies that have worked for you in the past to get the seller to hold a larger financing note?

thank you!

6 Likes

1,509 Views

reply by an intermediary 6yrs ago
from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC, USA

Thanks ^redacted‌ -- I learned this first hand from a transaction that Live Oak financed for a one of my sellers last year!

reply by a searcher 6yrs ago
from University of Pennsylvania in Hollywood, FL, USA

Another use of seller notes is to bridge the gap between what they think their business is worth and what you think it is worth. I use contingent notes that deliver more if the seller is correct and much less if they are not. It is very useful to help close a deal that the bid and ask are too far apart.