Miami's position as the primary U.S. gateway for Latin American trade shapes its acquisition market in ways most buyers do not anticipate: import-export businesses, freight forwarders, customs brokerages, and trade-adjacent logistics operations make up a meaningful share of local deal flow, alongside a hospitality sector where restaurant and hotel acquisitions frequently carry liquor license transfer requirements through Florida's Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco. A freight forwarder or customs brokerage acquisition can involve federal licensing considerations through the Federal Maritime Commission or U.S. Customs and Border Protection that have nothing to do with the SBA loan itself but still have to be sequenced against the closing. Florida's noncompete statute works in the buyer's favor here: Florida courts are generally required to construe restrictive covenants in favor of protecting the legitimate business interest they were written to protect, a meaningfully more buyer-friendly standard than many states. Import-export and hospitality deals in Miami also tend to run larger, given real estate and inventory-heavy asset bases, which means Florida's documentary stamp tax on the loan notes becomes a bigger line item to budget for than buyers expect. Our Managing Partner personally handles every Miami engagement, coordinating trade and hospitality licensing issues alongside your SBA lender's closing counsel.
Share the basics. Alex reviews each inquiry personally.
Your transaction details are under review. If there is alignment, we will be in touch.
Meanwhile, feel free to call us directly at (248) 266-2790
Alex Lubyansky handles sba business acquisition law work for buyers and sellers in Miami and across the country. Here is what that looks like:
We work best with people who know what they want and are ready to move:
Share the relevant deal details once. Alex reviews each inquiry personally and responds within one business day when there is alignment.
A structured, methodical approach to sba business acquisition law
We review the target business, your SBA pre-qualification, and the lender's proposed terms to confirm the deal structure your lender will actually approve before you commit to an LOI.
Alex leads due diligence personally, including successor liability exposure and license transfer requirements for regulated trades like HVAC and home health.
We draft and negotiate the asset purchase agreement while coordinating directly with your SBA lender's closing counsel on loan authorization language.
We draft the standby agreement for any seller note, confirm personal guarantee and life insurance assignment documents, and manage the full closing document set your lender requires.
We coordinate signing across buyer, seller, and lender, and assist with post-closing license transfer, successor liability matters, and equity injection documentation as needed.
We don't take every matter. Here is what happens when you reach out.
Alex reviews your transaction details personally. No intake coordinators, no junior associates screening your submission.
We evaluate whether your deal aligns with our practice. Not every matter is a fit, and we will tell you directly if it is not.
If there is alignment, Alex schedules a direct call to discuss your transaction, timeline, and objectives.
Before any work begins, you receive a written engagement letter with defined scope, timeline, and fee structure. No surprises.
Alex Lubyansky handles every sba business acquisition law engagement personally.
15+ years of M&A experience. Nationwide. One attorney on every deal.
Alex reviews each inquiry personally. If there is alignment, you will hear back within one business day.
Your transaction details are under review. If there is alignment, we will be in touch.
Meanwhile, feel free to call us directly at (248) 266-2790
Use these before you call any firm, including ours.
At many firms, a partner sells the work and a junior associate does it. Ask for the name of the attorney who will draft and negotiate your documents.
Volume indicates current, active deal experience, not just credentials from years ago.
A $500K SBA acquisition and a $50M PE deal require different skill sets. Make sure the attorney has handled transactions similar to yours.
M&A transactions require a team. Your attorney should work with your other advisors, not in a silo.
Reps, warranties, and indemnification claims surface months after closing. Ask whether the firm handles post-closing litigation or refers it out.
Ask how the engagement is scoped, what is included, and what factors drive cost increases. Defined scope with a retainer gives the clearest cost picture.
Common questions from Miami clients
Submit your transaction details for a preliminary assessment by our managing partner
Submit Transaction DetailsSubmit the core transaction details and Alex will evaluate whether the matter is a fit for direct engagement.
Miami has emerged as a major M&A hub driven by the influx of financial services firms, tech companies, and hedge funds relocating from the Northeast. The city's position as a gateway to Latin America creates unique cross-border deal flow in import/export, hospitality, and real estate services. South Florida's rapid population growth is fueling acquisitions in healthcare, insurance, and home services.
Miami's booming economy has attracted significant PE capital, creating competitive dynamics for quality targets in healthcare and technology. Cross-border transactions require counsel experienced in both US deal structures and Latin American business customs.
Florida's explosive population growth (adding 1,000+ residents per day) creates organic revenue growth for acquired businesses, making South Florida targets particularly attractive to growth-oriented acquirers.
Florida enforces non-compete agreements more broadly than most states, with courts applying a 'reasonableness' standard that generally favors enforcement - this gives buyers stronger tools to protect acquired business value through employee retention.
We understand Miami's unique position as a gateway to Latin American markets and provide specialized guidance for cross-border transactions and international offerings.
Miami's role as the leading U.S. gateway for trade with Latin America and the Caribbean produces a distinctive acquisition profile: freight forwarders, customs brokerages, and import-export distribution businesses see steady SBA-financed deal flow alongside the metro's substantial hospitality sector, restaurants, hotels, and event venues built around Miami's tourism economy. Trade-adjacent acquisitions can carry federal licensing considerations, a freight forwarder or non-vessel-operating common carrier license through the Federal Maritime Commission, or customs broker licensing through U.S. Customs and Border Protection, that operate on their own timeline separate from the SBA loan process but need to be accounted for in the closing schedule. Hospitality acquisitions carry their own licensing layer: a restaurant or bar's liquor license typically requires transfer approval through Florida's Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, and in some Florida counties liquor licenses are subject to a quota system that can materially affect the deal if the existing license cannot simply be reissued to the new owner. On the restrictive covenant side, Florida's noncompete statute is notably favorable to the party enforcing it: Florida courts are generally directed to construe covenants in favor of protecting a legitimate business interest, including customer relationships and goodwill, rather than favoring the restricted party as some states do. Miami's import-export and hospitality deals also tend to carry larger purchase prices given real estate and inventory-heavy balance sheets, and Florida's documentary stamp tax on the SBA loan note and any seller note scales directly with loan size, making it a materially larger closing cost line item on these deals than on a smaller service business acquisition elsewhere in the state.
Acquiring an import-export, freight forwarding, or customs brokerage business built around Miami's trade economy. We coordinate federal licensing considerations, Federal Maritime Commission or CBP customs broker license transfer, alongside the SBA closing timeline.
Acquiring a restaurant, hotel, or hospitality business in Miami requiring liquor license transfer through Florida's Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco. We sequence the license transfer and, where applicable, quota system considerations against the lender's closing schedule.
Structuring a larger SBA-financed acquisition common in Miami's import-export and hospitality sectors, where real estate or inventory-heavy assets increase both the loan amount and the documentary stamp tax exposure. We confirm the doc stamp cost early so it is budgeted into closing costs rather than discovered on the closing statement.
Miami's trade and hospitality-driven economy produces SBA acquisition targets with federal licensing considerations, freight forwarder and customs broker licensing chief among them, and Florida liquor license transfer requirements for hospitality businesses, layered on top of the standard SBA closing process. Florida's noncompete statute works in the buyer's favor when protecting acquired goodwill, and the state's documentary stamp tax deserves early attention given the larger loan amounts common to Miami's import-export and hospitality deals. Buyers who address licensing and closing cost budgeting early close without last-minute surprises.
Local Market Context
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL MSA · MSA population 6.7M
MSA Population (2024)
6.7M
U.S. Census Bureau
Top Industry Concentration
Miami has emerged as a significant M&A hub due to its position as the gateway for Latin American capital and a growing technology and finance migration destination. Cross-border M&A involving Latin American buyers and US targets, or US buyers acquiring Latin American businesses, is a distinguishing characteristic of Miami deal activity. The metro has also attracted hedge funds and private equity firms relocating from New York, adding deal-making capacity.
Miami International Airport is the top US airport for international freight by value. Port of Miami and Port Everglades are major container and cruise ports. The metro is the principal US-Latin America trade gateway.
Recent Miami Deal Signal (2024-2025)
Private equity firms that relocated to Miami from New York completed notable portfolio company acquisitions in 2024, while cross-border M&A involving Latin American targets continued at an elevated pace driven by favorable USD exchange rates and regional growth.
Source (accessed 2026-04-27)
Florida Office of Financial Regulation (OFR) handles securities oversight. Florida has no state income tax, which is a deal-structuring consideration for asset versus stock sale elections.
Strongly enforced under statutory framework (Section 542.335). Hardship to employee not considered.
Entity mergers, conversions, and dissolutions require filing with the Florida Division of Corporations (Sunbiz). Bulk asset purchasers must obtain a clearance letter from the Department of Revenue. Professional license transfers require separate filings with the Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
The Florida Bar (mandatory unified bar). Unified/integrated bar. Membership required to practice law in Florida.
Bar association websiteFederal districts: N.D. Fla., M.D. Fla., S.D. Fla.
Business court: Florida Circuit Court Business Courts (multiple counties) (established 2003) Specialized business court divisions operate in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Hillsborough (Tampa), and Orange (Orlando) counties. Florida Statute sec. 542.335 governs restrictive covenants and is nationally notable for its pro-enforcement stance.
Florida is a major lower-middle-market M&A state, with Miami as an international deal-flow hub and Tampa-Orlando as domestic healthcare and distribution transaction centers.
Watchpoints
These are the items we see derail sba business acquisition law transactions in the Miami market. Each one is rooted in current statutory law, recent legislative changes, or recurring patterns from the deals Alex has handled.
Strongly enforced under statutory framework (Section 542.335). Hardship to employee not considered.
"The most expensive deals aren't the ones with high price tags. They're the ones where buyers skipped the 90-minute assessment because they fell in love with the highlight reel."
Florida Office of Financial Regulation (OFR) handles securities oversight. Florida has no state income tax, which is a deal-structuring consideration for asset versus stock sale elections.
Securities regulated by Florida Office of Financial Regulation (flofr.gov). Florida follows a comprehensive securities act; Blue Sky notice filings required for Reg D. Florida is a significant enforcement state for unregistered offerings.
In-depth guides to help you prepare for your transaction
Full-service M&A counsel from letter of intent through closing.
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Read guideUse these tools to prepare for your transaction. Professional analysis at your fingertips.
Acquisition Stars represents clients across Florida and nationwide. Alex Lubyansky handles every engagement personally.
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"A bigger loan doesn't just mean a bigger number to fund. It means every fee tied to that number gets bigger too."
15+ years of M&A and securities transaction experience Senior counsel on every engagement Admitted in Michigan, practicing nationwide
Reviewed by Alex Lubyansky on . Read full bio
Alex Lubyansky handles every engagement personally. Tell us about your transaction and we will let you know if there is a fit.
One attorney on every deal. Nationwide. 15+ years of M&A experience.