How to Buy a Business in Sint Maarten and St Martin: Licences, Lease and Checks

Short answer: buying a business in Sint Maarten or St Martin means choosing what you buy (the company or only its assets), getting the licences in your own name, securing the lease, and checking the accounts before you sign. The rules are not the same on the Dutch and French sides. This guide walks through both, with the businesses we have for sale on 11 October 2026.

Andreu Realty sells homes and operating businesses from our office at 36 Airport Road, Simpson Bay, and is licensed on both sides of the island. Today we list five restaurants, from $360,000 to $1,100,000. You can see them all on businesses for sale in Sint Maarten.

First decide what you are buying

A business can change hands in two ways, and the choice drives everything that follows.

• Shares. You buy the company itself. Its contracts, staff, licences held by the company, history and debts come with it. Fast to take over, but you inherit what you did not see.

• Assets. You buy the equipment, inventory, name and goodwill, and take over the lease. Old debts normally stay with the seller, but each contract and licence has to be moved or applied for again.

On the Dutch side, most businesses are run by a company: an N.V. or a B.V. On the French side, the usual route is the sale of a "fonds de commerce" (the customer base, trade name, lease right and equipment), or of the shares of a SARL or SAS. Ask your lawyer or notary which structure fits before you make an offer: it changes the price you can pay, the checks you need and who signs.

Dutch side: the licences you need

On Sint Maarten, a business needs a business licence, and the people who run it need a director licence. Both are issued by the Department of Economic Licenses of the Ministry of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (TEATT). If the company already exists and only the directors change, the change goes through an amendment licence.

Some activities need an extra licence from the Minister on top, including food and beverage, watersports, wholesale, hotels and guesthouses. A TEATT licence does not mean the licences of other ministries are approved too, so ask the seller for every licence and permit the business holds.

For a director of foreign nationality living abroad, the government checklist asks for:

• an application letter in English to the Minister of TEATT, with the business address and each director's details;

• the deed of incorporation and a Chamber of Commerce excerpt;

• the CRIB (tax number) declaration from the Inspectorate of Taxes;

• a completed client information form;

• proof of the business address (a VROMI address confirmation or a utility bill in the company's name) and two documents for the business premises (lease, utility bill or tax assessment);

• a colour copy of each director's passport, and a police record no older than six months.

You apply online with an e-government account, or at Window B of the Government Administration Building by appointment. Once the file is complete, the processing fee is NAf 150 per request.

The Business Establishment Rules allow the government to refuse a licence on public-policy or public-interest grounds, and a business licence lapses if the business has not started within six months. Two more points from the Guide to Doing Business published by the law firm VANEPS: a new N.V. is set up by notarial deed and registered with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and when a non-resident acquires a business in St. Maarten, a foreign exchange licence or a written notice to the Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten is required.

French side: the sale of a business in Saint-Martin

Saint-Martin has been a Collectivité since 2007, with its own power to set taxes. So do not assume the transfer taxes of mainland France: ask the notary or lawyer for the Saint-Martin figures before you sign.

The sale of a fonds de commerce follows the French Commercial Code. The buyer publishes the sale in a legal-notice journal within 15 days, then in the BODACC, the official bulletin. For 10 days after the BODACC notice, any creditor of the seller can object to the price being paid out. In practice, the lawyer or notary holds the price in escrow until those periods have run, which can take several months. Build that into your timetable, and into the seller's expectations.

The lease is often the real asset

In all five of our listings you buy the business, not the building: the premises are rented. That makes the lease the first document to read.

• Remaining term and renewal or extension options.

• Rent and charges. On our listings the rent runs from $3,512 to $6,300 a month, and one restaurant pays a share of its revenue instead.

• Assignment. Most leases need the landlord's consent to transfer, and some landlords also approve the concept. Get that consent in writing before you commit.

• Who pays for repairs, storm damage and insurance.

If you want to own the walls as well, look at our income properties for sale in Sint Maarten.

Checks before you sign

• Accounts: two or three years of financial statements, compared with the revenue stated in the listing.

• Taxes: proof that turnover tax and payroll taxes are filed and paid. In a share deal, unpaid taxes become your problem.

• Licences: the full list, and how each one passes to you.

• Staff: who stays, on what contracts, and which employees hold work permits.

• Equipment and inventory: a signed list of what is included and its condition.

• Seasonality: monthly figures, not only the yearly total. Revenue follows the tourist season, and some restaurants close for weeks in the low season.

• Liabilities: loans, supplier debts, guarantees and pending claims, with a warranty from the seller in the contract.

What is for sale now (11 October 2026)

• Restaurant in Simpson Bay, modern fusion, turnkey: $360,000, rent $3,600 a month.

• Italian bistro in Cupecoy, operating since 2016: $395,000, rent $3,512 a month.

• French restaurant in Cupecoy, opened in 2023: $395,000, rent $5,922 a month.

• Beachfront restaurant and bar in Philipsburg, established 2014: $1,100,000, rent $6,300 a month.

• Fine dining restaurant, established 2017: $1,100,000, rent as a share of revenue.

Revenue, seating and staff for each are in our overview of restaurants and businesses for sale in Sint Maarten. For the areas, read our guides to Cupecoy and Simpson Bay. Business names stay confidential until you are a qualified buyer; lease and financial documents follow during due diligence.

Questions we get

Can a foreigner buy a business in Sint Maarten?

Yes. A director of foreign nationality applies for a director licence and a business licence from the Department of Economic Licenses (TEATT), with a passport copy and a recent police record among the documents.

How much does the business licence cost?

The government's processing fee is NAf 150 per request, paid once the file is complete. Notary, lawyer and Chamber of Commerce costs come on top.

Do I buy the building with the business?

Not with the five restaurants we list today: the premises are rented, so the lease and the landlord's consent to transfer it are part of the deal.

When does the seller get paid on the French side?

After the sale is published and the creditors' objection period has run: 10 days after the BODACC notice, plus any other checks. The price is usually held in escrow by the lawyer or notary until then.

Is it better to buy the shares or the assets?

It depends on the business. Shares are quicker to take over but bring the company's past with them; assets leave old debts behind but need every contract and licence moved. Ask your adviser before you make an offer.

Tell us your budget and the kind of business you want to run, and we will send what fits, including businesses that are not advertised: contact Andreu Realty. Moving to run it? Read moving to Sint Maarten from the US or Canada and Dutch side or French side: where to buy.

Sources: Government of Sint Maarten, Department of Economic Licenses and its checklist for directors of foreign nationality; VANEPS, Guide to Doing Business (St. Maarten licences; the N.V.); French Senate report on the Saint-Martin tax convention (tax powers since 2007); Lefebvre Dalloz, "Quand le vendeur du fonds de commerce dispose-t-il du prix de vente ?" (10 May 2023), on French Commercial Code articles L141-12 and L141-14. This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice: confirm current rules with a lawyer, notary or the authorities.