Merchant cash advance wholesaler Pearl has been sold to private equity firm Capital Z Partners after a courting period by buyers including blue chip firms such as Goldman Sachs. Merchant cash advance is a legal, unregulated way to lend money to small businesses at interest rates as high as 250 percent. To get around state interest limits, the companies argue they aren’t charging interest—they’re buying the money businesses will make in the future at a discount. Pearl’s innovation is to preempt clients’ existing debt by offering a second advance to borrowers who had already received an advance from another broker. Pearl's advance, due in two or three months, must be paid off before their original debt. Pearl reached loan volume of $100 million in 2013. Last year, merchant cash advance surpassed the SBA as a source of loans for less than $150,000.