Investing.com -- Corebridge Financial and Equitable Holdings announced Thursday they have entered into a definitive agreement to combine in an all-stock merger valued at approximately $22 billion, based on closing stock prices from Wednesday.

The transaction will create a retirement, life, wealth and asset management company with over 12 million customers and $1.5 trillion in assets under management and administration. The combined entity will operate across Individual Retirement, Group Retirement, Asset Management, Wealth Management, Life Insurance and Institutional Markets.

Under the merger terms, each outstanding share of Corebridge common stock will be exchanged for 1.0000 shares of the new parent company's common stock, while each outstanding share of Equitable common stock will be exchanged for 1.55516 shares of the new parent company's common stock.

Following the transaction's close, Corebridge shareholders will own approximately 51% of the combined company and Equitable shareholders will own approximately 49%.

The combined company expects to deliver more than $5 billion of operating earnings and generate over $4 billion of cash. The transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to earnings per share and cash generation, increasing to over 10% by the end of 2028.

The companies expect more than $500 million of run-rate expense synergies by the end of 2028, primarily from the consolidation of functions, information technology systems and vendor partners. The combined company expects an adjusted return on equity of more than 15% by the end of 2027.

The combined company will shift over $100 billion of Corebridge's general and separate account assets to AllianceBernstein, Equitable's majority-owned subsidiary.

At year-end 2025, Corebridge had a Life Fleet RBC Ratio of approximately 435% and holding company cash of $2.3 billion, while Equitable had a Combined NAIC RBC Ratio of approximately 475% and holding company cash of $1.1 billion. The combined company will have over $30 billion of shareholders' equity excluding AOCI and a leverage ratio of 26%.

Marc Costantini, president and chief executive officer of Corebridge, will serve as president and chief executive officer of the combined company. Robin Raju, chief financial officer of Equitable, will serve as chief financial officer of the combined company. Mark Pearson, president and chief executive officer of Equitable, will serve as executive chair of the combined company.

The combined company will have a 14-member board of directors, which will include seven directors designated by Corebridge and seven directors designated by Equitable. Alan Colberg, chair of the Corebridge Board, will serve as lead independent director.

The combined company will operate under the Equitable name and brand and trade under the ticker symbol EQH on the New York Stock Exchange. The company will be headquartered in Houston, Texas.

The transaction is expected to close by year-end 2026, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals and approval of shareholders of both Corebridge and Equitable.