Alderney · Buy-side acquisition
An acquirer’s route into the AGCC
An operator wants exposure to the EU-affiliated iGaming player base, a credible Crown Dependency regulator, and a board that has been through the Alderney Gambling Control Commission once already. Applying from scratch consumes months. Acquiring an existing licensee, with its hosting arrangement and banking relationships intact, compresses that timeline into a controlled change-of-control process.
Cadena Brokers presents only AGCC-supervised entities that have cleared the Commission’s continuing-fit review, hold a clean disciplinary record, and have an operator-side hosting agreement at a Commission-approved facility. We act for the buyer.
Why Alderney for an acquirer
A small island with a serious regulator
The Alderney Gambling Control Commission supervises eGambling under the eGambling Regulations, 2009 (Part I governs application, licence conditions, modifications, surrender, suspension, revocation and sanctions). The regime was most recently amended by the eGambling (Amendment) Ordinance 2025, which took effect on 1 January 2026 and brought Customer Due Diligence into line with international AML standards (EUR 3,000 first-deposit threshold) and replaced the paper application schedule with a digital submission.
For an acquirer the practical attractions are three. The AGCC carries international recognition disproportionate to the island’s size; an Alderney-licensed operator is accepted by tier-one payment processors and platform vendors without the friction of a Caribbean or Pacific licence. The supervisory model leaves operational latitude to the licensee while expecting documented internal control. And economic substance is genuine — the Commission expects an Alderney company, a local director, and a compliance officer with effective oversight, which means the entity you are buying is a real business and not a brass-plate vehicle.
Licence scope
What the Category 1 and Category 2 licences permit
The AGCC separates the licence by where the licensee sits in the gambling transaction. A Category 1 licence authorises the organisation and preparation of gambling operations — player registration and verification, the contractual relationship with the player, and management of player funds. A Category 2 licence authorises the effecting of the gambling transaction itself, including operational management of a gambling platform housed within a Commission-approved hosting centre. Many operators hold both, structured through one Alderney company.
Capital is governed by three running ratios rather than a single statutory floor. The licensee must hold cash exceeding player balances at all times, current assets exceeding current liabilities, and total assets exceeding total liabilities by at least 25 percent. The Commission’s review is continuous, and any acquirer should expect to certify these positions at completion and re-certify on the post-closing supervisory cycle.
Associate certificates layer onto the licence. A Core Service Provider Associate Certificate covers the third-party software vendor, a Key Individual Certificate attaches to named senior personnel, and a Hosting Certificate sits with the operator of the platform’s physical environment. In an acquisition each of these has its own assumption logic and must be diligenced separately.
Mandate profile
What we broker here
The Alderney entities in our book share a profile: an active Category 1 or combined Category 1 and 2 licence in good standing; a hosting agreement at an AGCC-approved facility transferable on commercially reasonable terms; banking continuity in the Channel Islands or a recognised onshore counterparty; an AML programme and Key Individual roster the Commission has already accepted; and game offerings (casino, sportsbook, or both) with verified RNG / RTP documentation.
Diligence concentrates on five gates: licence standing and any open supervisory correspondence; hosting-contract assignability and re-inspection risk; banking-relationship survival of beneficial ownership change; the Key Individual certificates and which ones transfer with the company versus which require replacement filings; and the Commission’s view on the proposed new beneficial owners (which it forms during the change-of-control process described below).
Acquisition path
How the change of control works
A licensed Alderney company cannot change beneficial ownership without the Commission’s prior knowledge. Our standard structure is a share purchase agreement signed and conditioned on AGCC non-objection to the new ultimate beneficial owners, with simultaneous filings to the Commission on the proposed Key Individuals where these change. Hosting and banking notifications run in parallel. See the (three-stage Cadena process) for how we sequence indicative offer, due-diligence access, and signing.
Expedited closings depend on the cleanliness of the target and the responsiveness of the Commission’s review queue. We present targets where this path is well-trodden.
Why Cadena
The acquirer’s broker for Alderney
- Buy-side only. We do not represent sellers. Every target on the desk has been sourced for an acquirer’s profile, not listed for marketing reach.
- Channel-Islands-specific diligence. Pre-vetting covers AGCC standing, hosting-contract transferability, and a banking-continuity confirmation from the licensee’s current counterparty before the file reaches you.
- Cross-jurisdiction view. An Alderney acquisition often sits alongside a Maltese, Isle of Man or Curaçao mandate. We coordinate the cluster so your structuring is consistent.
Frequently asked
What acquirers ask before signing
What does an Alderney gambling licence actually authorise?
The licence is issued by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission under the eGambling Regulations, 2009. A Category 1 licence covers the customer-facing operation — player registration, the contractual relationship with the player, and management of player funds. A Category 2 licence covers running the gambling platform itself inside an AGCC-approved hosting environment. A combined Category 1 and 2 entity runs the whole operation. The 2025 amendment, in force from 1 January 2026, modernised the Customer Due Diligence trigger to EUR 3,000 on first deposit.
How does the Alderney gaming license differ from a UK Gambling Commission licence?
The Alderney licence is a Crown Dependency authorisation, supervised separately from the UK regime. It cannot be used to offer gambling to consumers in Great Britain (that requires a UK Gambling Commission licence), but it is widely accepted by international platform vendors, payment processors and white-label partners, and Alderney is a lighter regulatory environment on day-to-day operational matters. Many operators hold the Alderney licence to serve non-UK markets and an additional UK or EU licence where they need direct consumer access in those territories.
What is involved in obtaining a gambling license in Alderney from the ground up — and why most acquirers skip it
From scratch an applicant must incorporate an Alderney company, appoint a local director and a compliance officer, publish a notice of application in the Alderney Gazette, and submit a business plan, AML-CFT policy, detailed game descriptions, RNG and RTP documentation, and the customer-fund withdrawal process to the Commission. The Commission reviews these and runs fit-and-proper checks on the proposed beneficial owners and Key Individuals. Acquiring a clean existing licensee skips the application queue: the company, the local infrastructure, the hosting agreement, and the banking relationships are already in place. What remains is the AGCC’s review of the new beneficial owners.
Does the AGCC have to approve a change of ownership?
Yes. The Alderney Gambling Control Commission is informed of and reviews a proposed change of beneficial ownership before completion. The standard structure is a share purchase agreement conditioned on AGCC non-objection. The Commission’s review covers the new beneficial owners’ source of funds, regulatory history and broader fitness, and runs in parallel with notifications to the hosting provider and bank. Acquirers should plan for this review window in the deal calendar.
What is the Alderney Gambling Control Commission and how does it supervise licensees?
The AGCC is the independent regulator established by the States of Alderney to authorise and supervise eGambling. It issues Category 1, Category 2, Associate, Core Service Provider, Key Individual and Hosting certificates, runs continuing supervision through reporting and inspection, and has powers to modify, suspend or revoke licences. Beneficial ownership, the Key Individuals named on the licence, the hosting environment, and the financial-ratio tests are the four ongoing supervisory anchor points.
Open a mandate
Acquire an Alderney-licensed eGambling company
Send the acquirer profile — target product (casino, sportsbook, combined), volume range, and any banking, hosting or jurisdictional preferences. We come back with the targets in our Alderney book that match, plus the cross-jurisdiction options worth weighing.
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