Brighthouse bidders narrow to TPG, Aquarian in hunt to buy US insurer, sources say
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Brighthouse Financial has narrowed down a field of suitors to money manager TPG and Abu Dhabi-backed financial investor Aquarian Holdings, as the U.S. life insurance and annuity provider continues to explore a potential sale, according to people familiar with the matter.
The pair have progressed to the final bidding round in recent days, the people said. Final bids are currently scheduled for submission in early July, although this timeline could shift, some of them added.
While there was interest from other parties, including a bid from the insurance arm of investment firm Sixth Street, as well as an offer from fellow insurer Jackson Financial to buy part of Brighthouse's operations, the two remaining parties are best positioned to buy the entire company in one piece, they said.
Apollo Global Management, which has a substantial insurance business, was expected to be a strong contender in the Brighthouse process but ultimately did not submit a bid by the mid-June deadline for offers, according to two other sources.
All of the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the process is confidential, cautioned that a deal was not guaranteed and Brighthouse, which has a market value of roughly $3.4 billion, could ultimately remain an independent company.
Brighthouse, Apollo and TPG declined to comment. Sixth Street, Aquarian and Jackson did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Financial Times reported earlier on Tuesday that TPG and Aquarian had emerged as leading bidders.
Charlotte, North Carolina-based Brighthouse, which was spun out of MetLife in 2017, has been exploring the possibility of a sale for most of this year. It was reported in January that the company was working with bankers on a possible deal.
Even as the number of contenders has narrowed in recent days, it is likely to take weeks, or even months, before a potential agreement is struck with a winner, given the time needed to complete steps including the complex due diligence process and any raising of outside finance to support their offer, the people said.
U.S. life insurance and annuity providers in recent years have been attracting takeover interest from private equity firms and other asset managers that can take the underlying assets and deploy them into their various strategies. As well as earning higher returns on the insurance assets, the method helps turbo-charge firms' other products.
For TPG, one of the last major alternative asset managers without a substantial insurance arm, acquiring Brighthouse would give it a platform from which to build out a broader insurance business.
While Aquarian already owns some insurance assets, and formed subsidiary Aquarian Insurance Holdings in March to combine its insurance operations, buying Brighthouse is also regarded as a platform play, the sources said.
Aquarian is a holding company focused on insurance and asset management businesses that is backed by investors including RedBird Capital Partners and Abu Dhabi state fund Mubadala.
Brighthouse shares have gained roughly 12% so far in 2025, significantly outperforming the approximately 5% rise in the S&P insurance index.
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