Equitable‑Corebridge Merger
Equitable Holdings and Corebridge agreed to an all‑stock merger creating a $22B company with more than $1.5T in client assets and over 12 million customers — Marc Costantini named CEO and Mark Pearson Executive Chair. The combined firm expands annuity, retirement, and wealth capabilities that advisors can point to when pitching large cases or group plans. (wealthmanagement.com)
Under the merger agreement, each Corebridge share will convert into 1.0000 shares of the new parent and each Equitable share will convert into 1.55516 shares, leaving Corebridge holders with roughly 51% and Equitable holders with about 49% of the combined equity. (sec.gov) (sec.gov; invezz.com) The combined company will be governed by a 14‑member board split evenly between the two firms and will be headquartered in Houston while operating under the Equitable name and EQH ticker on the NYSE. (investors.corebridgefinancial.com) (investors.corebridgefinancial.com; yahoo.com) Equitable’s current CFO, Robin M. Raju, is slated to serve as chief financial officer of the merged firm, a leadership decision disclosed in the transaction materials. (planadviser.com) (planadviser.com; morningstar.com) Management projects more than $500 million of run‑rate expense synergies by the end of 2028 and expects the deal to be accretive to earnings per share and cash, targeting over 10% EPS accretion by the end of 2028. (investors.corebridgefinancial.com) (corebridgefinancial.com; planadviser.com) As part of integration plans, the companies expect to shift in excess of $100 billion of Corebridge general and separate account assets to AllianceBernstein over time, and AllianceBernstein is described as having distribution operations in 21 countries. (planadviser.com) (planadviser.com; investors.corebridgefinancial.com) Financial and legal advisers named around the deal include Morgan Stanley for Corebridge and Goldman Sachs for Equitable, with Skadden and Paul Weiss among legal counsel, and the merger agreement carries a $475 million termination fee and an expected closing by year‑end 2026 subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals. (globallegalpost.com) (globallegalpost.com; skadden.com; money.usnews.com; sec.gov)
