Item 1.01 Entry Into a Material Definitive Agreement
On February 21, 2025, subsidiaries of Equitable Holdings, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), entered into the 364-Day Term Loan Credit Agreement (the “Term Loan Agreement”) with respect to a $500 million senior unsecured delayed-draw term loan (the “Term Loan”). The Term Loan will be used, along with available cash and cash equivalents, to fund the Company’s tender offer (as described below) and pay related fees and expenses. The Term Loan is required to be repaid with the cash proceeds from the previously announced master transaction agreement, entered into on February 23, 2025, among the Company’s subsidiaries, Equitable Financial Life Insurance Company, Equitable Financial Life Insurance Company of America and Equitable Financial Life and Annuity Company, and Reinsurance Group of America (“Reinsurer”), pursuant to which, among other things, at closing of the transactions contemplated thereby, Reinsurer would enter into reinsurance agreements, as reinsurer, with each such subsidiary, as ceding company, to reinsure 75% of such ceding companies’ in-force individual life insurance block on a pro-rata basis (the “RGA Reinsurance Transaction”), which is expected to close in mid-2025.
The Term Loan Agreement contains certain administrative, reporting, legal and financial covenants, including requirements to maintain a specified minimum consolidated net worth and to maintain a ratio of indebtedness to total capitalization not in excess of a specified percentage, and limitations on the dollar amount of indebtedness that may be incurred by the Company’s subsidiaries and the dollar amount of secured indebtedness that may be incurred by the Company, which could restrict the Company’s operations and use of funds. The right to borrow funds under the Term Loan Agreement is subject to the fulfillment of certain conditions, including compliance with all covenants, and the ability to borrow thereunder is also subject to the continued ability of the lenders that are or will be parties to the facility to provide funds.
Item 2.03 Creation of a Direct Financial Obligation or an Obligation under an Off-Balance Sheet Arrangement of a Registrant.
The information set forth in Item 1.01 of this Current Report on Form 8-K is incorporated by reference into this Item 2.03.
Item 7.01 Regulation FD Disclosure
Commencement of Tender Offer
On February 24, 2025, the Company issued a press release announcing the commencement of a tender offer to purchase up to 46,000,000 units representing assignments of beneficial ownership of limited partnership interests (“Units”) in AllianceBernstein Holding L.P., a Delaware limited partnership (“AB Holding”), at a price of $38.50 per Unit (the “Purchase Price”), for an aggregate Purchase Price of up to approximately $1.8 billion, net to the seller in cash, less any applicable tax withholding, upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Offer to Purchase and the related Letter of Transmittal (which together, as each may be amended and supplemented from time to time, constitute the “Offer”).
The Company expects to fund the Offer and related expenses with proceeds of the Term Loan, along with available cash and cash equivalents.
A copy of the press release issued by the Company is furnished as Exhibit 99.1 to this Form 8-K.
Important Additional Information
This communication is for informational purposes only and is neither an offer to purchase nor a solicitation of an offer to sell any Units or any other securities. The Offer is being made solely by the Offer to Purchase and the related Letter of Transmittal, as they may be amended or supplemented. Unitholders are urged to read carefully the Company’s tender offer statement on Schedule TO, which has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”), which includes as exhibits the Offer to Purchase, the related Letter of Transmittal and other offer materials, as well as any amendments or supplements to the foregoing when they become available, because they contain important information. Each of these documents has been filed with the Commission, and investors may obtain them for free from the Commission at its website (www.sec.gov) or from D.F. King & Co., Inc., the information agent for the tender offer by telephone at (800) 848-3402 or by email at AB@dfking.com.