Mercantile Capital Corporation Zeros in on Major New Lending Market: Franchise Hotel, Restaurant Buyers

ORLANDO, Fla. — Mercantile Capital Corporation, which ranks as one of the leading providers of U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) 504 loans for small business owners, reports that fully one-fourth of its commercial loan closings since Jan. 1 have helped small businesses acquire, develop, or refinance franchise hotel or restaurant operations.

Chris Hurn, chief executive officer of Mercantile Capital Corporation, said the firm has closed on 68 commercial loans since Jan. 1 to finance projects worth more than $291 million in total project costs.

Seventeen of those loans were for acquisitions or refinances of commercial real estate for franchise operations, Hurn said, and 14 of those were for franchised hotels.

Altogether, commercial loans to franchise buyers accounted for 40 percent of Mercantile Capital’s loan volume during the first seven months of this year, Hurn said.

“Typically, franchise operations require a more rigorous standard of economic viability and promise a more reliable potential for economic success,” Hurn said.

“The increase in SBA 504 lending to buyers of franchise operations indicates significantly expanded awareness of the benefits of SBA 504 financing and refinancing among the small business entrepreneurs who are driving the nation’s economic recovery and we see this as a promising sign,” he added.