Equitable and Corebridge said on Thursday that they will combine in an all-stock transaction valued at $22 billion, forming a U.S. retirement, life insurance and asset management company. The merged firm will bring together the operations of Corebridge, Equitable and AllianceBernstein into a single diversified financial services business.
The new company will manage and administer in excess of $1.5 trillion in assets and serve more than 12 million customers, according to the companies' announcement. Equitable said the combined business is expected to generate more than $5 billion of operating earnings and to increase earnings by over 10% by the end of 2028.
Under the terms of the deal, each outstanding share of Corebridge will be exchanged for one share of the new parent company, while each outstanding share of Equitable will be exchanged for 1.55516 shares of the parent. Ownership of the combined entity will be split with Corebridge shareholders holding approximately 51% and Equitable investors holding roughly 49%.
The merged company will be headquartered in Houston, Texas, and will operate under the Equitable name. Leadership roles were announced as part of the agreement: Corebridge Chief Executive Officer Marc Costantini will serve as chief executive of the combined company, and Equitable Chief Executive Officer Mark Pearson will assume the role of executive chair.
Commenting on the merger, Equitable CEO Mark Pearson said, "The combined company will benefit from a strong competitive position and accelerated growth across retirement, life and institutional markets, as well as asset and wealth management." The companies framed the tie-up as a response to competitive pressures in the industry, noting that insurers are pursuing scale to grow revenue, retain more earnings and strengthen positions in retirement and wealth markets.
Corebridge, which was carved out of AIG in 2022, saw its shares rise 2.4% in premarket trading on the announcement.
Advisers on the transaction were announced: Morgan Stanley acted as adviser to Corebridge, while Goldman Sachs advised Equitable.
Context on investment coverage mentioned by the companies
The announcement includes reference to investment research tools evaluating asset managers. One promotional element in the communication asked whether investors should be buying AB now and described an AI-driven selection process that evaluates companies using more than 100 financial metrics. That material noted past winners identified by the tool, including Super Micro Computer and AppLovin, with stated performance figures for those picks.
The deal is targeted to close by the end of 2026. Beyond that timeline, the companies are providing projections for the combined firm's earnings profile through 2028.