New York, June 4, 2026, 06:03 EDT
- Brighthouse was last seen at $62.40, an 11% gap to Aquarian Capital’s $70 per share cash bid.
- New SEC filings listed standard annual-meeting items, not any fresh merger vote.
- The spread left on the deal has traders watching for insurance regulatory approvals and tracking the 2026 closing timeline.
Brighthouse Financial shares stayed under the $70-a-share deal price from Aquarian Capital before Thursday’s Nasdaq open. The stock was last at $62.40, well below the agreed cash offer to take the insurer private. The deal spread was roughly 11%.
Brighthouse didn’t update the takeover terms in its latest filing. A June 3 Form 8-K said stockholders picked nine directors, okayed Deloitte & Touche as auditor and gave an advisory nod to executive pay after the annual meeting on June 2.
Aquarian’s $4.1 billion cash deal is still up in the air for traders wondering if it goes through in 2026. Brighthouse stockholders gave their approval at a special meeting in February. The company has said it still needs to clear conditions and get regulatory sign-off.
Aquarian said in November it would buy the Charlotte, North Carolina-based life insurer and annuity provider for $70 a share. “Significant and growing opportunity,” is how Aquarian founder Rudy Sahay described the U.S. retirement market. Brighthouse CEO Eric Steigerwalt said the deal brings “clear and compelling value” for holders. SEC
Brighthouse is still trading below the deal price, showing that the market isn’t valuing the $70-per-share cash offer as certain. Shares last traded at $62.40, which is about 89 cents on the dollar for the deal. That’s a gap of $7.60 per share between the merger bid and the market quote.
Brighthouse is still dealing with the accounting volatility that keeps life-insurance stocks tough to gauge each quarter. The company posted a net loss to shareholders of $792 million for the first quarter, or $13.82 per diluted share. Adjusted earnings, which remove some market-driven effects, came in at $239 million, or $4.15 a share.
Risk-based capital stood between 430% and 450% at the end of March, with holding-company liquid assets at $0.9 billion. Annuity sales reached $2.2 billion, including $1.9 billion in Shield Level Annuities. Life sales totaled $32 million.
Peer tape slipped in parts. Lincoln National dropped 3.9%, Primerica was down 1.9% by the close. Globe Life barely moved. Brighthouse held steadier, with the takeover price giving support instead of new earnings news.
Stocks dropped Wednesday, with the S&P 500 under pressure from financial and technology names. Wall Street lost ground as traders kept their focus on Middle East worries, oil prices, and the threat of inflation. Bill Northey at U.S. Bank Wealth Management called the market a “tug of war” between robust U.S. numbers and global tensions. Reuters
But Brighthouse says the merger might not close on schedule, or could fall through, if regulators do not sign off; it flagged risks around disruption to the business, legal fights, increased costs, and market swings. The company’s first-quarter loss under U.S. accounting shows that its annuity hedging and market risk benefits are still moving results before it exits the public market.
Nasdaq’s published 2026 holiday schedule keeps markets open on June 4, with the next holiday set for Juneteenth on June 19. That puts Thursday’s session in focus, as investors weigh closing the gap or sticking with wider spreads.
