Urgent Business Acquisition Finance

Your finance broker for fast, same-week settlements.

Buying a business is one of the harder things to finance, because what you are buying is largely intangible. Lenders can take security over property and equipment, but goodwill, a customer list, and a set of contracts are much harder to lend against. That is why the structure of an acquisition matters as much as the price: how much is vendor-funded, what security is available, and whether the earnings will genuinely support the debt. Settled With Joe works across bank, non-bank, and specialist lenders who fund these deals, and Joseph Farhat and his team will tell you honestly and quickly what is achievable for your situation.

Who we can help access finance

• •Buyers acquiring an established business with a trading history and verifiable earnings.
• •Existing owners buying out a departing partner or shareholder.
• •Management teams funding a buyout of the business they already run.
• •Business owners making a bolt-on acquisition of a competitor or a complementary operation.
• •Buyers of a franchise, where lender appetite depends heavily on the brand and the franchisor.
• •Purchasers acquiring a business together with its freehold premises, which usually improves the funding significantly.
• •Self-employed buyers with property equity but income documentation that does not present neatly.
• •Buyers under a fixed settlement date in a share or asset sale agreement.

How Business Acquisition Finance Works

Most acquisitions are funded from several sources rather than one loan. A typical structure combines your own contribution, a lender advance secured against available assets, and often a vendor finance component where part of the price is paid over time from future earnings. Where the business owns its premises, the property can carry a large share of the funding at a much lower rate, which is why business-plus-freehold deals are easier to finance than goodwill-only ones. Lenders generally advance against a multiple of sustainable earnings rather than the asking price. Joseph Farhat and his team review the target, the structure, and your security position, match the scenario to the right lender from the 90+ panel, and manage the application through to settlement.

What Lenders Assess for Business Acquisition Finance

• •Sustainable earnings: lenders assess normalised EBITDA over several years, not the best year or the vendor’s forecast, and lend against a multiple of it.
• •What is actually being bought: property and equipment can be lent against directly. Goodwill and customer lists cannot, which is the constraint on most deals.
• •Your experience: relevant industry and management experience carries real weight, particularly for a first-time buyer entering an unfamiliar sector.
• •Security available: property equity, whether in the business premises or your own, is usually what makes an acquisition fundable at a sensible rate.
• •Customer concentration: a business where one client is most of the revenue is a materially riskier proposition than one with a spread.
• •Transition risk: how dependent the earnings are on the departing owner, and what handover or restraint arrangements are in place.
• •Vendor finance: a vendor willing to leave part of the price in the business signals confidence and reduces what the lender has to fund.
• •Deal structure: whether it is a share sale or an asset sale changes the liabilities you inherit and the way lenders assess it.

The Business Acquisition Finance Process: What to Expect

1. 1.Talk to Joseph Farhat and his team early, ideally before you sign. You will get an honest read on what is fundable and what deposit or security is likely to be required, which is worth knowing before you negotiate.
2. 2.Provide the basics: the target’s financials for the last three years, the sale contract or heads of agreement, details of what is being acquired, and your own position and security.
3. 3.We match your scenario to the lenders on the panel most likely to fund the structure. Acquisition appetite varies widely by industry and by what is being bought, so this step decides the outcome more than on most products.
4. 4.The lender assesses the file and issues an approval setting out the rate, term, security, and any conditions, which often include restraint of trade and handover requirements. We go through it with you before you sign anything.
5. 5.Settlement takes place alongside the sale, the funds are paid to the vendor, and the facility begins. We stay in contact through the first year, which is when most acquisition borrowers want someone to call.

Indicative Finance Options

Why borrowers choose Settled With Joe for business acquisition finance

• •We represent you, not the lender: Joseph Farhat and his team act in your interest from the first conversation through to settlement.
• •Talk to us before you sign: what is fundable shapes the terms worth negotiating, including the vendor finance component and the settlement timeline. Most buyers come to us too late for that to help.
• •Goodwill is the hard part: lenders fund assets, not intangibles, and knowing how much of the price is genuinely lendable before you commit changes the deal you do.
• •Structure decides the outcome: the same business at the same price can be fundable or not depending on how the deal is put together.
• •One conversation, not five applications: acquisition appetite varies sharply by industry, and each declined enquiry costs you time inside a due diligence period.
• •90+ lenders on one panel: bank, non-bank, and specialist, so a property-backed acquisition can go to a bank at a sharper rate and a goodwill-heavy one still has options.
• •Managed end to end: Joseph Farhat and his team package the target’s financials and your position in the form lenders actually want to see.
• •Private finance for unique scenarios: where bank and non-bank lenders are not the right fit, we can introduce you to private finance options.
• •Usually no direct cost to you: as a broker we are typically paid by the lender on settlement.
• •An honest answer early: if you are inside a due diligence period, talk to us first and we will tell you what is realistically achievable.