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Franchise financing

Financing a Ascend Collection franchise

SBA lenders have approved 45 loans against the Ascend Collection brand since FY2010, totalling $140.0M. The median approval was $2,800,000, counted from loans lenders approved rather than projections in a disclosure document.

Rank by loan count

#500

of 1,651 brands

Loans approved

45

FY2010 onward

Median loan

$2,800,000

Typical range

$1.2M-$5.0M

Middle 80% of loans

Median term

25 yr

Charge-off rate

-

Cohort too small

Source: U.S. Small Business Administration, SBA 7(a) and 504 FOIA data, as of 2026-06-30. Approvals from FY2010 onward. How we calculate this.

Lenders

Who financed Ascend Collection

Geography

Where Ascend Collection units were financed

The industry codes most often recorded on Ascend Collection loans: Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels (721110), Lessors of Nonresidential Buildings (531120), Golf Courses and Country Clubs (713910). Each industry page lists the lenders and other brands in the same line of business.

Approvals by fiscal year

’14
 
’16
 
’18
 
’20
 
’22
 
’24
 
’26

Loan count by fiscal year - a rough proxy for how fast the brand was opening units. Final bar is a partial year.

Loan sizes

  • $150K - $350K
    4%
  • $1M - $2M
    20%
  • Over $2M
    76%

Financing a franchise unit

Guidant Financial

Funds business and franchise buyers through 401(k) rollovers (ROBS), SBA loans, and portfolio lending, often combining them in one structure. Rollover structures are common among franchise buyers because they can supply the equity injection an SBA loan requires without taking on a second loan to do it.

Check options with Guidant Financial

Approved referral partner. We may be paid when a reader we refer starts an application. It changes nothing about the figures on this page. Those come from the SBA’s federal file.

An SBA 7(a) lender

An SBA 7(a) lender and marketplace for loans up to $500,000, plus bank term loans and custom financing. You apply on their site - we do not take applications and never see your information.

Check options with SmartBiz

We may be paid if you apply through this link. It does not change what we publish, and no lender can buy a place in our rankings. Details.

Financing a Ascend Collection: common questions

How much do lenders finance for a Ascend Collection franchise?
The median SBA loan approved for a Ascend Collection franchise is $2,800,000, with the middle 80% of loans between $1,236,000 and $5,000,000. That is the financed portion only - it excludes the buyer's equity injection. SBA lenders typically want that injection at 10% or more of total project cost for a business acquisition or new franchise unit.
Which lenders finance Ascend Collection franchises?
By dollars approved, the most active SBA lenders for Ascend Collection have been Mortgage Capital Development Corporation, NewBank, PromiseOne Bank, Business Initiative Corporation of New York. Many franchise brands also maintain their own preferred-lender lists, and those may differ from who has historically approved the most volume.
How long are Ascend Collection SBA loans?
The median term is 25 yr. SBA 7(a) terms run up to 10 years for working capital and equipment, and up to 25 years when the loan is secured by real estate - so a longer median usually means the loans included property.

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