Anjouan · Comoros · iGaming
Buy an Anjouan iGaming License
Cadena Brokers represents buyers in acquisitions of Anjouan-licensed online gaming companies — entities authorised by the Anjouan Offshore Finance Authority under the Computer Gaming Licensing Act 007 of 2005, administered through Anjouan Licensing Services Inc. We act on the acquirer’s side only.
Regulatory context
Why acquirers look at Anjouan
The Autonomous Island of Anjouan, part of the Union of the Comoros, runs one of the few remaining product-agnostic online gaming regimes on the planet. The legal basis is the Computer Gaming Licensing Act 007 of 2005, enacted jointly by the Anjouan Offshore Finance Authority (AOFA) and the Anjouan Gaming Control Board. Since May 2023, Anjouan Licensing Services Inc. (ALSI) has been the exclusive administrator for internet gaming licences — a structural reset that tightened due-diligence standards and rebuilt the registry after years of administrative drift.
For an acquirer, the appeal is narrow but specific: a single authorisation covers casino, sportsbook, poker, lottery, fantasy, esports betting, and crypto-denominated operation, with no sub-licence or vertical addendum to chase. That breadth is the reason crypto-native operators routinely route through Anjouan rather than carving the same product set across three or four narrower regimes. The flip side is reputational: Anjouan’s name carries weight with a sub-segment of payment processors, not the full set — buyers who plan to onboard tier-one PSPs need to validate that workstream before pricing.
License scope
What an Anjouan license permits
One umbrella authorisation, all verticals. The licence covers business-to-consumer operation across casino, sportsbook, peer-to-peer poker, lottery, fantasy sports, and any chance-or-skill product the operator decides to launch later. There is no product-specific sub-licence and no per-vertical addendum — the operator can extend its game library and bet types without re-papering the regulator.
Since July 2025 a separate B2B category sits alongside the operator licence: game studios, platform providers, and aggregators serving Anjouan-licensed operators must either hold a local B2B licence or carry a B2B License Recognition Certificate evidencing supervision under an equivalent regime. For an acquirer planning to retain third-party suppliers post-close, that recognition status is a diligence item worth checking inside the data room.
The AML programme tracks the FATF-consistent baseline: fit-and-proper testing for every key person, bankers’ and accountants’ references covering a two-year window, police-clearance certificates dated within ninety days of submission, and full source-of-funds documentation. The Comoros applies no gaming-revenue tax on Anjouan-licensed activity, which is the structural reason GGR economics are reported pre-tax in this jurisdiction rather than pre-and-post.
What we broker
The Anjouan acquisition shortlist
We do not publish target names. The entities Cadena presents to acquirers are clean-shell or low-activity Anjouan-licensed companies — recently issued under ALSI administration, with the post-2023 documentation set rather than legacy paperwork from the pre-reset era. Diligence focus on these mandates concentrates on three threads:
- Banking and PSP continuity. Anjouan-licensed entities run on a narrower payments stack than Maltese or Isle of Man peers. We confirm the live processors, the segregated player-funds account, and any historic chargeback or rolling-reserve posture before showing the file.
- Restricted-territory configuration. The standard Anjouan restricted-countries list excludes most regulated markets (US, UK, France, the Netherlands among them). The buyer needs the operator’s geo-IP and KYC configuration verified against that list as part of clean-room diligence — a mis-configured registration funnel is the single most common post-close clean-up cost.
- Key-person and AML programme. ALSI’s fit-and-proper file on each director and beneficial owner. Where the buyer wants to replace any director on close, the file moves with the entity but the new appointee needs separate clearance.
Change of control
How the transfer of ownership works
An Anjouan operator licence sits on the Comorian company that holds it; the licence is not separately transferable. The acquirer therefore buys the company — share-purchase agreement, beneficial-ownership change, board reconstitution if required. ALSI is notified of the change of control, the new beneficial owner submits the standard fit-and-proper package (bankers’ and accountants’ references, police clearance, source-of-funds), and the licence continues under the new shareholding once clearance is recorded. There is no separate licence re-issuance and the operator typically continues trading through the approval window, subject to existing terms.
One contrarian note: Anjouan is occasionally treated by acquirers as a low-friction route compared with Curaçao’s new National Ordinance on Games of Chance regime. That is true for time-to-decision; it is not always true for downstream PSP onboarding. Buyers acquiring an Anjouan operator with a view to scaling card-based payment volume should price the PSP qualification work in upfront rather than after close. For pointers on the wider buy-side process see the Cadena acquisition workflow and our jurisdiction coverage map.
Why Cadena
What an acquirer gets working with us
- Single-side mandate. Cadena represents the acquirer. We are not also pitching the seller, not running a dual-agency, and not collecting from both sides of the table. That alignment matters most in jurisdictions like Anjouan where seller-side advisers occasionally over-represent the cleanliness of a legacy file.
- Pre-reset versus post-reset clarity. Every Anjouan target we present is screened for whether its licence file passed through the May 2023 ALSI re-validation cycle. Pre-reset paper without re-validation is a different risk profile and we surface that distinction explicitly, not in a footnote.
- Payments-first diligence. The PSP and banking stack on an Anjouan operator is the single biggest determinant of valuation. We do that workstream alongside the legal diligence, not after it.
FAQ
Acquirer questions on Anjouan iGaming licenses
How do I buy an Anjouan casino license?
You buy the company that holds the licence, not the licence itself. The transaction is a share purchase of the Comorian operator entity, with the change of control notified to Anjouan Licensing Services Inc. (ALSI). The incoming beneficial owner submits a fit-and-proper package — bankers’ references, accountants’ references, police clearance dated within ninety days, and source-of-funds evidence. The licence stays in place under the new shareholder once clearance is recorded. Cadena represents acquirers through this transaction and never the seller.
Is there an Anjouan gaming license for sale right now?
Active Anjouan operator entities come to market on an irregular cadence — usually as clean shells freshly issued under post-2023 ALSI administration, or as low-activity operators where the founder wants out before scaling. We do not advertise targets. Acquirers brief us on the verticals, restricted-market posture, and PSP requirements they need, and we run a confidential outreach to operators that fit. The shortlist is presented under NDA only.
What does the Anjouan gaming license cost to acquire?
The price of acquiring an Anjouan-licensed company depends on whether the entity is a clean shell or an operating business with revenue, the PSP and banking stack on the books, the cleanliness of the AML file under ALSI’s post-2023 standard, and whether the seller is willing to retain founder warranties for a defined indemnity window. We benchmark each shortlisted target against current comparables before opening price discussion — figures from public broker listings are usually not predictive.
What countries are restricted under the Anjouan license?
Anjouan-licensed operators must geo-block residents of the standard restricted-territory list, which excludes most regulated gambling markets — the United States, United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, and several others. The full current list is maintained by ALSI and updated as operators are notified. For an acquirer, the diligence question is not just the list itself but whether the target’s KYC and geo-IP configuration actually enforces it; a misconfigured registration funnel is a routine post-close clean-up item we flag in the data room.
How does an Anjouan iGaming license compare to Curaçao?
Both are single-licence regimes covering the full iGaming product set. Anjouan’s process is faster to decision but its PSP and banking acceptance is narrower than Curaçao’s, particularly post the Curaçao National Ordinance on Games of Chance (LOK) modernisation. Acquirers building a card-based payment business often pay a premium for Curaçao paper for that reason; acquirers running crypto-native flows are typically indifferent or prefer Anjouan. The choice is downstream of the payments strategy, not the licence itself.
Brief us on your Anjouan mandate
Tell us the verticals, the restricted-market posture, and the PSP stack you need. We will return a confidential shortlist of Anjouan-licensed entities that match — and only entities Cadena has screened against the post-2023 ALSI documentation standard.
