After an acquisition
You own it now, but most of its record was built by someone else. Here is how a funder separates the seller’s history from yours, what the deal structure changes, and how to time the first request.
✓ Checking what you qualify for does not affect your credit score.
Updated October 13, 2026 · Merchant Fund Express
After you buy a business, a funder asks one question first: did the company continue, or did you start a new one that bought its assets? If you bought the shares or membership interests, the entity, its EIN and usually its bank account carry on, so its time in business and deposit history are still its own. If you bought the assets through a new company, the new entity has its own start date and its own account, and the seller’s history becomes context rather than your record.
This page is about financing the business in the months after closing: working capital, equipment, stock. For money to buy a business in the first place, see funding for a business acquisition and owner financing.
| Stock or membership purchase | Asset purchase | |
|---|---|---|
| Entity and EIN | Same as before | New, formed by the buyer |
| Bank account | Often the same account, with signers changed | Usually a new account opened near closing |
| Time in business | The company’s age continues | Can restart at your entity’s start date |
| Deposit history | Months before closing are still the company’s | The new account has only the months since closing |
| Credit pulled | Yours, as the new owner | Yours, as the new owner |
The published floor for revenue-based funding is 6+ months in business, and 3+ years for a line of credit or term loan. In an asset purchase, whether the seller’s years are counted is a file-by-file question. Send the seller’s statements and ask; do not assume they will be.
A buyer forms a new LLC and buys a laundromat’s assets. The new business account opens Tuesday, July 28, 2026; the sale closes Monday, August 3. The buyer pays the seller $1,500 a month on a seller note. The seller’s last three months averaged $32,000.
| Month in the new account | Deposits |
|---|---|
| August 2026 | $29,000 (card processor moved over mid-month) |
| September 2026 | $31,000 |
| October 2026 | $33,000 |
| November 2026 | $30,500 |
| December 2026 | $34,000 |
| January 2027 | $28,500 |
| Six-month average ($186,000 ÷ 6) | $31,000 |
The buyer applies on Monday, February 1, 2027, with six months of statements in the new account. An illustrative offer:
| Item | Figure |
|---|---|
| Amount approved | $40,000 |
| Fee deducted at funding (illustrative 3%) | $1,200 |
| Net proceeds | $38,800 |
| Factor rate (illustrative) | 1.30 |
| Total repayment ($40,000 × 1.30) | $52,000 |
| Payment | $1,000 a week for 52 weeks |
| First payment | Wednesday, February 10, 2027 |
| Last payment | Wednesday, February 2, 2028 |
Monthly equivalent: $1,000 × 52 ÷ 12 = about $4,333. Add the $1,500 seller note and fixed obligations are about $5,833 a month, close to 19% of $31,000 in deposits. That combined number is the one to judge.
All figures in worked examples are illustrations of the arithmetic, not offers or quotes. Real terms depend on your file and the funder.
Disclose acquisition debt up front. It is visible on statements, and an undisclosed payment found at review is a bigger problem than the payment itself. See funding with a UCC lien on file if the seller or a bank filed one at closing.
In a stock purchase where the account and company continued, there is usually no reason to wait beyond getting the new signers on the account and the ownership documents in hand.
Run the free eligibility check using your entity’s actual start date and ownership. If it fits, apply with the closing documents and statements ready, and include your seller note in the payment burden calculator.
In a stock or membership purchase the company’s age continues. In an asset purchase your new entity may start its own clock; whether the seller’s history is credited is decided file by file.
Yours, as the new owner. The seller’s credit is no longer part of the file.
Send them as context, especially in an asset purchase. The statements from your own account since closing are what a funder relies on most.
It is a fixed payment out of the business, so it is read like any other obligation. Disclose it with its terms.
In a continuing company, once ownership and signers are updated. In an asset purchase, usually once your own account has enough history to read, with six months as the published revenue-based floor.
Same-day decision. Applying takes a few minutes and will not affect your credit score.
