Brighthouse Financial accepts $4.1B takeover offer from Aquarian

Image shows the Brighthouse and Aquarian logos — Brighthouse will be taken over by Aquarian Capital. (AI-generated image)

By John Hilton

Brighthouse Financial confirmed this morning that Aquarian Capital will acquire it in a $4.1 billion deal.

Brighthouse canceled its third-quarter earnings call scheduled for Friday and instead immediately released third-quarter financial results. The insurer posted a combined total adjusted capital of $5.4 billion.

Aquarian Capital will acquire Brighthouse for $70 per common share in cash, a long-rumored transaction. Aquarian becomes the latest private equity/investment manager to take over a large-scale annuity seller.

A diversified global holding company, Aquarian provides insurance and asset management solutions, with about $25.6 billion in assets under management as of June 30. The firm, founded in 2017 by Rudy Sahay, focuses on long-term investing across various asset classes.

"This seems like a really smart move by Aquarian," said Sheryl Moore, founder of Moore Market Intelligence. "The Brighthouse acquisition will give Aquarian new products and distribution that their existing holdings don’t offer."

The transaction is expected to close in 2026. Multiple suitors expressed interest or submitted offers in a sale process lasting most of 2025. According to the Wall Street Journal reporting, Aquarian separated itself from TPG, another global asset manager, which preferred a structured deal involving only certain parts of Brighthouse.

Peter McMurtrie is a partner at West Monroe, a global business and technology consulting firm based in Chicago. He calls the deal a great fit for two companies that can achieve scale together.

"It's a very obviously attractive space right now in terms of the amount of growth that we've seen already and the outlook for future growth," he noted. "The challenge is, the more you're growing, the more capital intensive it is, and so you kind of grow yourself broke."

During their second-quarter earnings call, Brighthouse executives lamented their ability to grow as sales stagnated. The Aquarian marriage also helps the insurer with technology demands, McMurtrie said. The growth of registered indexed-linked annuities came with a demand for more personalized products, he explained.

"Companies that can invest more into and modernize their platforms are going to be advantaged in the growth here," McMurtrie said. "You know, we're already seeing RILA is becoming very price sensitive. ... I think that that ability to invest in the platforms is also going to sort of be an opportunity here."

Powerful partners

The Aquarian-Brighthouse marriage brings the potential to shake up the industry, said Arik Rashkes, a partner and head of the Financial Institutions Group at Solomon Partners.

"The transaction presents a remarkable opportunity for Brighthouse to integrate into a growing asset management powerhouse," he said. "By gaining access to best-in-class asset classes, Brighthouse can enhance its competitive edge in the marketplace, driving product innovation and broadening its portfolio."

Brighthouse ranked 16th in total annuity sales in LIMRA's second-quarter sales figures. Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Brighthouse was created in 2017 when it spun off from MetLife Inc.

Rashkes provided "strategic counsel" to MetLife in the Brighthouse spinoff.

"This strategic move enables Brighthouse to leverage Aquarian's resources and expertise, positioning itself as a formidable player in the industry," he concluded.

Brighthouse also sells a much smaller amount of life insurance, and all of its products are sold through multiple independent distribution channels.

Aquarian plans to invest in Brighthouse’s platform and distribution franchise while "enhancing product design, development and innovation," the news release said. Aquarian also plans to bolster Brighthouse’s investment management capabilities through a strategic relationship with Aquarian Investments, Aquarian Capital’s investment management platform.

Following the deal close, Brighthouse Financial will operate as a standalone entity within the Aquarian Capital portfolio. Steigerwalt will continue as president and CEO, the release said, and the company will remain in Charlotte.

'Transformative' deal

Brighthouse CEO Eric Steigerwalt called the sale "a transformative transaction."

"As one of the largest providers of annuities and life insurance in the United States, we’re thrilled to partner with Aquarian Capital to continue to deliver on our mission of helping people achieve financial security through our best-in-class distribution franchise, as well as our innovative suite of Shield annuity products, and our work with BlackRock on LifePath Paycheck," Steigerwalt said in a news release.

Sahay is an experienced executive who previously co-founded 54 Madison Partners and was a founding member of Guggenheim Partners' principal investment groups. In a comment on the acquisition, he suggested that Brighthouse will continue to operate with few changes.

The acquisition "aligns perfectly with our strategic focus on the United States retirement market, which represents a significant and growing opportunity,” Sahay said. “Brighthouse Financial has built a strong foundation, and we are excited to support the company in its next phase of growth. We plan to preserve Brighthouse Financial’s disciplined and thoughtful approach to distribution, products and services while accelerating its strategy through continued investment and customer focus.”

In recent quarters, Brighthouse struggled to get its risk-based capital ratio to its 400% minimum target. The insurer’s RBC ratio declined in the second quarter, but Chief Financial Officer Ed Spehar told analysts it remained within the target range. In the third quarter, Brighthouse posted a much higher RBC ratio of 435% to 455%.

InsuranceNewsNet Senior Editor John Hilton has covered business and other beats in more than 20 years of daily journalism. John may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @INNJohnH.