Main Street To Mid-Street Acquisition & Financing News

Expert insights, funding strategies, and practical guidance for securing capital, financing growth, and navigating business acquisitions. Whether you're raising capital for expansion, restructuring debt, or exploring your first acquisition, our blog provides the knowledge and resources to help you succeed.

Growth
October 5, 2025

Complete Guide to 2025 M&A Trends for Founders

The 2025 M&A landscape marks a major comeback, with $2.2 trillion in deal volume driven by aging founders exiting and aggressive private equity activity. Mega-deals, sector-specific growth in finance, tech, and media, and a surge in take-private transactions are reshaping dealmaking. For founders, now is the time to prepare—by building scalable operations, aligning with high-growth sectors, and positioning to attract strategic or sponsor-led investments.

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Growth
October 4, 2025

Top 5 Rollover Equity Agreement Templates

Rollover equity lets sellers keep skin in the game by taking part of their consideration in the buyer’s equity, but the right template depends on entity type, tax goal, and control terms. Common options include corporate stock-for-stock (often aiming for §351/§368 treatment), partnership/LLC unit rollovers (typically §721), partial cash-plus-rollover, earnout-linked rollovers, and management incentive rollovers. Compare tax deferral, vesting/lock-ups, and governance rights (drag/tag, ROFR, puts/calls) to avoid disputes and align incentives post-close.

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Growth
October 4, 2025

Checklist for Negotiating NDAs in M&A Transactions

Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) are essential in M&A transactions to safeguard sensitive information shared during negotiations. A well-structured NDA clearly defines what is confidential, restricts its use, and includes critical terms like duration, non-solicitation, and return or destruction clauses. Tailoring NDAs to the deal’s size, industry, and competitive context ensures both parties are protected while enabling a smoother due diligence and negotiation process.

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Growth
October 3, 2025

Tax Impact of Equity in Search Funds

Equity in search funds carries meaningful tax consequences that can shape both investor returns and operator outcomes. The choice of entity structure—C corporation, S corporation, or LLC—determines exposure to double taxation, eligibility for Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS) benefits, and self-employment taxes. With recent legislative changes expanding QSBS advantages and ongoing complexities like PFIC rules for foreign funds, early tax planning and structuring are critical to maximizing after-tax gains while avoiding costly compliance pitfalls.

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Growth
October 2, 2025

SBA Loan Program Updates: What You Need to Know About SOP 50 10 8 Revisions (2025)

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has released an important Procedural Notice (5000-872764), updating its Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) 50 10 8. These changes affect both the 7(a) Loan Program and the 504 Loan Program — two of the SBA’s most widely used financing tools for small businesses.

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Growth
October 2, 2025

How to Structure Rollover Equity to Minimize Risk

Rollover equity can be a smart way to align buyer and seller interests, but it introduces risks if not structured carefully. To minimize exposure, sellers should negotiate key terms like rollover percentage, voting rights, and exit provisions, while also modeling different scenarios to understand best- and worst-case outcomes. Working with legal, tax, and financial advisors ensures compliance, protects against dilution, and creates a framework for fair returns over time.

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Growth
October 1, 2025

Growth Capital Options for Business Owners: Understanding SBICs

Owner-focused guide to SBICs as a source of growth equity and acquisition capital. It explains how SBICs work, eligibility, and financing structures (debt, minority equity, mezzanine), weighs pros and cons, compares SBICs with VC/PE/bank loans, and includes case studies plus a practical next-steps checklist.

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Growth
October 1, 2025

When to Use Hard Money Loans for Business Acquisitions

Hard money loans are best used when speed and flexibility are more important than low cost. They’re ideal for acquisitions that require quick closings, buyers with limited credit history, or situations where unconventional deal structures are involved. Because of their higher rates and shorter repayment terms, they should be treated as a short-term bridge to longer-term financing, backed by a clear exit strategy.

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Growth
September 30, 2025

Top 7 Fintech Lenders for SMBs 2025

Fintech lenders are the go-to in 2025 for SMBs that need fast, flexible capital, with options ranging from lines of credit and invoice financing to SBA-backed acquisition funding. Platforms like Clearly Acquired focus on M&A and SBA workflows, while BlueVine, Fundbox, OnDeck, Kabbage (AmEx), Lendio, and Credibly excel at quick working-capital solutions. Compare by speed, cost, and fit—urgent cash flow favors instant or next-day LOCs, while acquisitions benefit from SBA expertise and AI-driven underwriting.

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Growth
September 30, 2025

How to Build a Defect Prevention Plan for Acquired Businesses

A defect prevention plan for acquired businesses ensures quality and operational consistency during integration. By reviewing inherited processes, setting clear standards, leveraging technology, and training employees, you can reduce costly errors and disruptions. Tracking KPIs like defect rates and customer satisfaction keeps the plan effective and aligned with long-term growth.

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Growth
September 29, 2025

Main Street Investment Return Analyzer

The Main Street Investment Return Analyzer makes it simple to understand potential returns when investing in local businesses. By entering basic details like startup costs, revenue, and expenses, you get a clear picture of what your money could yield over time. It’s designed for everyday investors who want confidence in supporting Main Street ventures without needing to build complex financial models.

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Growth
September 29, 2025

SBA Loan Eligibility Checker

The SBA Loan Eligibility Checker makes it easy to see if your business meets the core requirements for SBA financing before diving into a full application. By entering basic details like revenue, employee count, and credit score, you’ll instantly get a snapshot of your funding potential. This helps you save time, focus on the right opportunities, and walk away with actionable insights to strengthen future applications.

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Acquire Quality. Fund Growth. Close with Confidence.

As an AI-driven Business Acquisition Marketplace and Financing Platform, we are on a mission to simplify and accelerate the MainStreet to MidStreet lending and acquisition ecosystem.

We specialize in technology that supports price discovery, identity verification and financial qualification, and buy-side tools to help searchers source and manage deal flow, make offers, secure lending/financing solutions, and close with confidence.

illustration of team with digital platform

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some frequently asked questions by users that are looking to buy businesses on Clearly Acquired:

How can I show business owners I'm a legitimate buyer and that I'm interested?

With a Clearly Verified account, you can instill confidence in other users, brokers and sellers that you are, who you say you are, when you "verify" your identify.  This is the key to instilling confidence in the users on the platform,  gaining traction and getting instant access to financials, supporting data and insight to quickly move to making an offer or moving on.   This will save you months of wasted time and expedite the closing of a sale.

How are my finances verified?

Using financial technology the Clearly Acquired Platform safely and securely verifies your finances, to help sellers understand your closing capability and help lenders expedite your financing. Additionally, the buy-side deal room will help you get your documentation in order, to prepare you for the debt and equity financing you will need to close your acquisition.

Can I get in touch with advisors to help support me in this process?

The Clearly Acquired team is here to support you on your business acquisition or business sale journey. That said, the platform is designed to connect you with a community of users, who are identify verified, which include: investors, lenders, advisors, brokers, consultants, and other buyers who are looking for partners.  

What is a Deal Hub?

The Deal Hub is the central repository for all transaction-related activities on our business acquisition platform. It serves as a secure and organized space where buyers and sellers can access critical information and manage the entire acquisition process efficiently. The Deal Hub is divided into two main components: the Data Room and the Deal Rooms.

Data Room: The Data Room is a secure, virtual storage space where sellers can upload and share essential documents related to their business. This includes financial statements, legal contracts, operational reports, and other due diligence materials. Buyers can access these documents to conduct thorough evaluations and make informed decisions. The Data Room ensures that all sensitive information is protected and only accessible to authorized parties.

Deal Rooms: The Deal Rooms are dedicated spaces for each business listing where buyers and sellers can collaborate and negotiate terms. Each Deal Room is equipped with tools for real-time communication, document sharing, and tracking the progress of the deal. This streamlined environment facilitates transparent and efficient interactions, helping to expedite the acquisition process and ensuring that both parties are aligned at every stage.

The Deal Hub's comprehensive and secure infrastructure simplifies the complexities of business acquisitions, providing a seamless experience for all users involved.

What is Plaid?

Plaid is a financial technology company that provides a secure and seamless way to connect and interact with financial institutions. It enables applications to access users' financial data with their consent, facilitating a wide range of services such as identity verification, account authentication, and transaction history retrieval. Plaid's robust API infrastructure ensures high security, reliability, and compliance with regulatory standards.

By integrating Plaid, Clearly Acquired can offer a secure, efficient, and reliable method for identity verification, building trust among users and ensuring the integrity of the acquisition process.

I am new to the idea of business acquisition, where can I get more information on how to get started?

Make sure to check out our Educational Course on Business Acquisition that is offered in our paid plans for buyers: From Purchase to Profit: Mastering the Art of Business Acquisition.

This Membership Course for buyers is designed to empower individuals with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to navigate the business acquisition process successfully. Whether you're a first-time buyer or an experienced entrepreneur, our course equips you with the tools and insights needed to make informed decisions and achieve your acquisition goals. Join us and embark on your journey to buying a business with Clearly Acquired.

Easy as 1, 2, 3

Create Your Account. Get Verified. Start Searching.

1

Create an account

Every day, lenders, investors, brokers, and sellers come to Clearly Acquired looking for qualified operators like you. Creating an account and getting verified helps you stand out and build trust.

2

Build your profile

Build your profile to get matched with capital and opportunities. Showcase your expertise and resume, to connect with the right capital and acquisition partners—making every opportunity count.

3

Search & Connect

Browse Verified listings, source off-market deals, & manage deal flow with powerful tools to underwrite opportunities, and connect with capital to streamline the entire acquisition and funding process

Join the Clearly Acquired Search Community

Create Your Profile & Get Verified for Free