Report: More business-for-sale deals closed in 2014 | The Sacramento Bee

Business sales tracker BizBen.com said there were 15,513 completed deals involving California small and midsize businesses in 2014, up 5 percent from 14,764 in 2013.

It was the best rate of improvement in nine years.

Sacramento County saw a significant year-over-year increase in sales activity. Dublin-based BizBen said the county recorded 574 sales of existing businesses in 2014, up 32.5 percent from 433 in 2013.

By comparison, prior to the recession in 2006, there were 984 business sales in Sacramento County and 28,582 statewide.

BizBen cited an improving economy and easier access to business-purchase loans as the primary drivers.

“A sizable number of California's business owners who’ve been ready to sell for awhile decided the time was right last year, because their companies were showing better performance than two and three years ago,” Peter Siegel, BizBen’s founder and president, said in a statement. “More lenders are getting back into the business-for-sale market after a long period following the mortgage crisis, when they were hesitant to offer business-purchase loans.”