Brighthouse rises 4.1% as Sixth Street circles, but the stock still sits $18 below Aquarian's $70 deal price

Shares of Brighthouse Financial (BHF) closed up 4.13% at $51.90 on Tuesday, according to Nasdaq data, after Bloomberg News reported that Sixth Street is trying to revive its interest in buying the life insurer and annuity seller. According to the report, as carried by Investing.com, Talcott Financial Group, an insurer backed by Sixth Street, sent a private letter to Brighthouse's board last month saying it still wants to buy the company if the existing sale does not go through.

Bloomberg also reported that Delaware's insurance regulator is examining where the money for the pending deal with Aquarian is coming from. Brighthouse, the Delaware Department of Insurance, Sixth Street and Talcott all declined to comment, according to the report.

The number behind the move: a 26% discount to a signed deal

The headline is the 4% jump. The bigger number is where the stock still trades. Brighthouse agreed in November 2025 to be bought by an affiliate of Aquarian for $70.00 a share in cash, according to the company's merger proxy. Shareholders approved the deal on February 12, 2026.

At Tuesday's close of $51.90, the stock sits $18.10 below that price, a discount of about 26%. Put the other way, a holder would make about 35% if the deal closed on its current terms. Spreads that wide on an approved, all-cash deal usually mean the market is pricing a real chance the deal does not close at all. Tuesday's report gives that doubt a name: the regulator's review of the financing.

What the proxy says about timing and the exits

The merger proxy sets out the terms that now matter most:

• Outside date. Either side could walk if the deal had not closed by September 6, 2026. That date has passed. The agreement extends it to December 6, 2026 if the only missing pieces are regulatory approvals and everything else is ready.
• Regulators. Aquarian filed for change-of-control approval with insurance regulators in Delaware, New York and Massachusetts on December 22, 2025. The deal cannot close without them.
• Financing. The proxy says the deal is not conditioned on financing. Aquarian listed an investment commitment from Mubadala Capital, an equity commitment and a debt commitment letter.
• Break fees. Brighthouse would owe about $143.5 million in some cases, including if it takes a superior offer. The buyer would owe about $225.5 million in some cases, including if it fails to close once all other conditions are met.

The proxy also shows the original sale process drew proposals from 10 parties, and that no other bidder at the end was willing to beat $70 a share. It does not identify the unnamed bidders, and we are not able to say whether Sixth Street or Talcott was one of them.

Who it matters to

For merger-arbitrage traders, the question is now less whether a buyer exists and more what a second buyer would pay. Tuesday's report did not include a price from Talcott. There is no guarantee a fallback bid would match $70. For the insurer's annuity customers, nothing changes day to day: their contracts are with the insurance subsidiaries, and state regulators have to approve any change of control whoever the buyer is.

What to watch: any word from the Delaware regulator, whether the deal passes December 6 without closing, and whether Talcott puts a number on its interest.

Sources: Bloomberg News via Investing.com, Brighthouse Financial merger proxy (SEC), Nasdaq quote data. This is market information, not investment advice.