Aquarian Holdings in talks to buy insurer Brighthouse for about $70 per share, sources say

By David French

NEW YORK, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Aquarian Holdings is in advanced talks to buy U.S. life insurance and annuity provider Brighthouse Financial BHF.O for roughly $70 per share, two people familiar with the matter said on Friday.

The proposed price is significantly above where Brighthouse closed trading on Thursday, at $45.26 per share, which gave the company a market value of roughly $2.6 billion.

Talks are considered advanced between Brighthouse and Aquarian, a holding company focused on insurance and asset management businesses that is backed by investors including RedBird Capital Partners and Abu Dhabi state fund Mubadala, the sources said. However, as with any deal negotiations, the sources cautioned the final price could fluctuate marginally and there was no guarantee that an agreement will ultimately be struck.

The sources spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential deliberations.

Brighthouse and Aquarian did not respond to requests for comment.

Bloomberg News reported earlier on Friday that talks between the two parties were advanced and centered on a range between $65 and $70 per share.