Date: Thu, 18 Dec 1997 11:44:01 GMT Server: Apache/1.2.0 Connection: close Content-Type: text/html
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We are small business finance specialists. Making loans to entrepreneurs is what we do. Read on for details of our various financial products.
Historical Overview
Allied Capital is a publicly traded nationwide finance organization
that specializes in providing financing to small businesses throughout
the United States. Since 1958, Allied Capital has provided financial
products and services to small businesses. Allied Capital specializes
in four primary areas: venture capital, international expansion
capital, small business lending, and commercial real estate finance.
We have over $864 million in combined total assets dedicated
to small business financing, and offer a number of financial products
for the small business entrepreneur. We are a unique financial
institution because we understand the needs of the small business
entrepreneur and can provide creative and flexible financing quickly. To learn about some of our current investments, visit some of our portfolio companies or peruse our database of representative investments.
Venture Capital
Allied Capital is one of the oldest and largest publicly traded
venture capital companies in the nation. Our typical investment
is to a small business looking for between $2 and $8 million in growth or acquisition capital.
Most investments are structured as subordinated loans with equity
components such as stock, options or warrants. Loans typically
bear a current interest rate of about 12%, and generally have
maturities of five to seven years with an interest-only period
for the first three years. Entrepreneurs find our product very
appealing because we act like lenders, and our equity participation
is small. We aren't like the "vulture capitalists"
who often take the majority of the upside away from the small
businessman, or intrude in the daily business operations.
We have significant expertise in providing this kind of financing
to the service sector as well as media (especially radio), distribution,
software development, manufacturing, environmental and retail
concerns. We aren't very high tech, so experimental technologies
such as bio-tech, space, or cutting edge information systems do
not appeal to us. We also do not currently provide financing
for early-stage or start-up companies.
International Expansion Capital
Allied Capital is fortunate to have an arrangement with the Overseas
Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) through which we are able
to provide capital to small businesses that are expanding internationally.
For many small businesses, such expansion-type capital is very difficult to secure; for companies expanding internationally, it can be even more difficult. The
structure of our international expansion capital investments is
very similar to our subordinated debt product, with the added
requirement that the small business be expanding into OPIC-designated
countries.
SBA-Guaranteed Loans
Through the Small Business Administration (SBA), Allied Capital
is able to provide small business loans quickly. Don't be fooled!
Not all SBA-lenders are alike! Because Allied Capital has such a strong track record, we have been
designated as a Preferred Lender by the SBA. This enables us
to close loans quickly --much more quickly than other SBA-guaranteed loan
providers. These loans are generally between $0.2 and $2.5 million, and are flexibly priced with generous
amortization terms. We provide long-term loans as well as financing
for acquisition, growth, restructuring and construction in a wide
array of industries including manufacturing, retail, service, radio, convenience
store/gas stations, restaurants, delicatessens, bars, hotels and motels.
Commercial Real Estate Loans
Small businesses often experience difficulty in finding commercial
real estate mortgages to finance the real estate component of
their business. Allied Capital has focused on this issue and carved a niche in this area by providing such financing to
entrepreneurs nationwide through several specialized programs. Hard-To-Finance ProgramRepresentative Investments To learn more specific details about some of the investments we've made, we've created a database of representative investments organized by industry. This data does not represent any one portfolio, but represents a broad cross-section of all of our portfolios. We hope this data will help potential entrepreneurs and business brokers to gain a better understanding of how we structure our investments, the types of companies we lend to, and our lending criteria. We will continue to update this database periodically. |