Two Wall Street asset managers have emerged as final bidders for Brighthouse Financial, a life insurer viewed as a crown jewel for firms looking to boost their profiles in the private credit industry.
TPG and Aquarian Holdings, an asset manager backed by Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Capital, both submitted offers at a small premium to Brighthouse’s market value in the final round of bidding earlier this month, according to people briefed on the matter.
Brighthouse, with more than $100bn in assets and a $3.5bn-plus market value, is one of the largest remaining independent sellers of life insurance and annuities in the US. Such insurers are coveted by asset managers to fuel the growth of their credit investment platforms, because the premiums paid by their customers provide a ready source of investment capital.