MetLife to divest U.S. life business, rebrand as Brighthouse
July 25, 2016 by IFAwebnews Staff
MetLife announced that it will rebrand its U.S. life insurance business as Brighthouse Financial after it is divested from the firm in the coming months.
A timeline regarding the structure and timing of the separation has not been announced.
U.S. life insurance has been the company’s main business for more than a century and contributed to the company’s rise.
Earlier this month, MetLife completed a deal to sell its retail agent force to MassMutual.
MetLife announced in January that it would part ways with a large piece of that unit as part of a plan to slim down and respond to a shifting regulatory environment with higher capital requirements.
“This marks an important step in MetLife’s efforts to separate our U.S. Retail business,” said Steven A. Kandarian, MetLife chairman, president and CEO. “As a separate entity, Brighthouse will benefit from greater focus and more flexibility in products and operations.”
He added that the move will be positive for the firm.
“At the same time, this separation will also bring significant benefits to MetLife as we focus even more intently on our group business in the U.S., where we have long been the market leader, as well as on our international operations,” Kandarian said. “Our goal is to complete the separation process with both the separated business and MetLife well-positioned for success in the years to come.”
MetLife is proceeding with the divestiture even though a federal judge in March struck down the company’s 2014 designation as a “systemically important financial institution” by a panel of federal regulators. The panel is appealing the ruling.
Brighthouse Financial will be led by current MetLife Executive Vice President Eric Steigerwalt.
“Our optimistic outlook on what we will create for people’s financial futures, coupled with our guiding principles of simplicity and transparency, are captured in our name, Brighthouse,” Steigerwalt said.
MetLife will retain its longstanding Snoopy logo, at least for now.
No shareholder approval is expected to be necessary. The MetLife Board of Directors would have to approve any separation transaction; certain insurance and other regulatory approvals would also be necessary. The transaction would also need to comply with any U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requirements. No assurance can be given regarding the form that a separation transaction may take or the specific terms thereof, or that a separation will in fact occur.