A BF&M Ltd. takeover bid for an insurance company formerly majority owned by the Barbados government resulted in the Bermuda insurer boosting its existing 51 percent stake by less than one percent, the company said yesterday.

BF&M, Bermuda?s second largest domestic insurer, closed a buy-out of the Barbados government?s 51 percent stake in the Insurance Corporation of Barbados Limited for nearly $26 million at the end of December. Also in December it gained an additional 0.7 percent stake at a cost of $712,296, the company said in a statement yesterday.

BF&M?s 51.7 percent stake gives it ownership of 20,161,171 shares in the St. Michael, Barbados-based insurer, which trades on the Barbados Stock Exchange. Since gaining majority control of ICBL former BF&M chief executive Glenn Titterton (pictured) has been installed as ICBL chairman, BF&M CEO John Wight told The Royal Gazette yesterday.

BF&M had been bidding to buy up all remaining ICBL shares but it said previously it did not expect its $2.60 a share price offer to be well received. At the time BF&M sent out its ?takeover circular? to the company?s remaining shareholders ICBL was trading at around $3.10 a share. BF&M said it bought up the majority stake in ICBL as part of a plan to expand geographically. BF&M, which trades on the Bermuda Stock Exchange, has a market capitalisation of $120.68m, making it second in size to Argus Group Holdings Ltd. which has a market capitalisation of $190.76m.