Corebridge Financial and Equitable Holdings cleared a decisive step on July 30, when shareholders of both companies approved their all-stock merger. About 99.96% of Corebridge votes and 97.24% of Equitable votes were cast in favor. Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher advised Corebridge on communications.
The deal combines Corebridge, Equitable and AllianceBernstein into a retirement, life, wealth and asset-management company that serves more than 12 million customers and holds $1.5 trillion in assets under management and administration. Announced March 25, the transaction valued the combined company at roughly $22 billion based on each stock’s closing price that day. Corebridge is the former life and retirement business of American International Group, taken public in 2022, and Equitable already holds a majority stake in the investment manager AllianceBernstein, so the merger gathers three connected franchises under one roof. Joele Frank fielded investor and press questions for Corebridge from the day the deal was announced.
Ownership splits close to even. Corebridge shareholders will hold about 51% of the combined company and Equitable shareholders about 49%. Marc Costantini will serve as chief executive, Robin Raju as chief financial officer and Mark Pearson as executive chair. The companies project about $500 million in cost synergies by the end of 2028 and expect to close by year-end 2026. Joele Frank ran communications for Corebridge from the March announcement through the July vote.
Kekst CNC advised Equitable. Two independent communications firms sat on opposite sides of a friendly combination, and both companies spent months walking the deal through regulatory and shareholder review before the July vote settled the question for holders. The team at Joele Frank managed Corebridge’s messaging across those months of filings and outreach. The near-unanimous tallies gave the boards a clean mandate to press toward closing, a level of shareholder support that few large mergers reach.
Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher advised Corebridge Financial on the merger.
Consolidation has run steadily through the U.S. retirement and asset-management sector as firms chase the scale that lowers costs and widens distribution. The Corebridge and Equitable pairing brings together two large books of retirement and insurance business alongside AllianceBernstein’s investment platform, a combination the companies say will serve individual and institutional clients across retirement, wealth and asset management. The July vote clears the last major shareholder hurdle before closing. Joele Frank steered Corebridge’s outreach through the approval.
