Equitable, Corebridge plan to merge in all-stock deal

U.S. insurers Equitable Holdings and Corebridge Financial are set to merge in an all-stock deal valuing that combined business at $22 billion.

The retirement, asset and wealth management giant would be called Equitable and manage $1.5 trillion in assets, with more than 12 million customers, according to a statement Thursday. Corebridge CEO Marc Costantini will be the head of the combined entity, while Equitable's Mark Pearson will become executive chairman.

Corebridge had a market value of about $12 billion as of close on Wednesday, while Equitable had a capitalization of roughly $11 billion. The deal is expected to close by the end of this year.

READ MORE: How Equitable Advisors plans to double its earnings in 5 years

Following the deal, Corebridge expects to transfer about $100 billion of assets to AllianceBernstein, the investment manager majority owned by Equitable. Nippon Life Insurance, which is the largest investor in Corebridge, has backed the transaction. 

Blackstone, which has a mandate to manage some Corebridge assets, also owns a stake of about 12% following the insurer's spinout from AIG in 2022. 

"Upon closing, this transaction is expected to deliver compelling value to shareholders, including immediate accretion to earnings per share and cash generation, increasing to over 10% by the end of 2028," Costantini said in the statement.