Athene, MassMutual Made Over $3 Billion Takeover Offer to American Equity
October 7, 2020 by Leslie Scism
A pair of insurance companies made a bid for American Equity Investment Life Holding Co. AEL -1.30% last month, in a bet that the small Iowa insurer’s retirement-income products will continue to be popular with conservative savers.
Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. and the publicly traded Athene Holding Ltd. ATH -1.92% offered American Equity $36 a share in cash on Sept. 8, according to a letter sent to American Equity’s chief executive that was viewed by The Wall Street Journal. At that price, the bid would amount to a value of more than $3 billion.
In a news release Thursday morning after the Journal story, American Equity confirmed it received the offer and said that its board is reviewing the proposal in consultation with its financial and legal advisers.
American Equity shares jumped 44% on Thursday, pushing the company’s market value to $2.9 billion from about $2 billion.