NCB Financial Group, the company that owns a majority stake in Clarien Bank, has made a bid to take a controlling interest in Caribbean region insurer Guardian Holdings Ltd.

Controlled by Michael Lee-Chin, the Jamaican-born billionaire, NCB has a 50.1 per cent stake in the Bermudian bank. Mr Lee-Chin’s Portland Private Equity owns an additional 17.9 per cent stake in Clarien.

On Monday, NCB’s subsidiary NCB Global Holdings, made an offer to all Guardian shareholders to buy up to 32.01 per cent of the company. The $2.79 per share offer is worth more than $207 million in aggregate.

NCB already owns 29.99 per cent of Guardian, which is based in Trinidad and Tobago and offers life, health, property and casualty insurance, as well as pensions and asset management in 21 countries across the English and Dutch Caribbean.

If the bid is successful, NCB would own a 62 per cent controlling interest in Guardian.

The offer is conditional upon Guardian shareholders tendering sufficient shares to give NCB a more than 50.01 per cent stake and on regulatory approvals for the deal.

The offer period is scheduled to close on February 7, 2019.