At a glance: Trinidad's Republic Financial Holdings

Caribbean financial services heavyweight Republic Financial Holdings (RFHL) is poised to pile on a few more pounds.

Trinidad & Tobago-headquartered RFHL, through subsidiary Republic Bank Trinidad & Tobago, has put in an offer to purchase up to 74.99% of the ordinary shares of Cayman Islands lender Cayman National at a price of US$6.25 per share.

In a statement this week, RFHL said it had so far received acceptances for 22.9mn shares, or 54.15%.

The US$143mn deal is subject to regulatory approval. The partial offer is due to expire on Monday.

"The Board believes that the Partial Offer is a good opportunity for Cayman National shareholders to realise the value of their investment in Cayman National," Cayman National said in a statement earlier this month.

RFHL has 10 direct subsidiaries including banks in Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados and Grenada.

Formed in 1837 and originally called Colonial Bank, RFHL also has a credit insurance-focused insurer, Republic Insurance Company (Cayman). Colonial Bank was the first commercial bank in Trinidad & Tobago.

In 2013, RFHL became the first bank in the English speaking Caribbean to become a major stakeholder on the African continent through the purchase of a 40% stake in HFC Bank in Ghana, which was this year rebranded as Republic Bank (Ghana).

The government is a major stakeholder in RFHL.

At the end of June, RFHL held assets of 69.6bn Trinidadian dollars (US$10.3bn). Liabilities stood at 60.1bn.

For the three months ended June 30, it reported a net profit of 362mn Trinidadian dollars, up from 348mn a year earlier.

Cayman National, meanwhile, is part of Cayman National Corporation, which has been providing services since 1974 and also has operations in the Isle of Man and Dubai.

At the end of June, Cayman National held 1.56bn Cayman Island dollars (US$1.90bn) in assets, up from 1.46bn Cayman Island dollars a year earlier. Liabilities stood at 1.44bn, up from 1.37bn.

For the three months ended June 30, it reported net income of 16.4mn Cayman Island dollars, up from 11.7mn.