Guseinov: Commercial loans typically range from 2x to 4x EBITDA
Gary Guseinov · From $7M to $70M Revenue: How RealDefense Scaled Through Acquisitions | Gary Guseinov · Mar 14, 2026 · at 15:32
Gary Guseinov, CEO of RealDefense, explains the lending metrics and leverage multiples available to companies financing M&A through debt.
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“The most basic fundamental concept in lending is the turns of EBITDA to total debt value that you can borrow. So for instance, if a company is doing four million dollars with EBITDA, you can probably get loan between two times to four times of the total EBITDA. So eight million to twelve million dollars. You should be able to get that A loan for that amount. Now, there are certain funds out there who invest or lend into scale. So if you say, hey, yes, I, you know, my metrics are four million of EBITDA and I'm growing really fast. I want to borrow seven times, 10 times. There are lenders that'll do that. They'll probably want to take some equity as part of their compensation. Their rates might be higher and their term might be short. And so you have these lenders that will go up even more But generally, it's between two times and four times of EBITDA as your lending spectrum where you can borrow against.”
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