Brookfield Corporation has unveiled plans to merge with its listed insurance affiliate Brookfield Wealth Solutions, in what the group has cast as the next stage of a wider corporate simplification effort that has run for the past 18 months.
The tie-up would fold the parent and its insurance arm into a single entity, with the combined business set to trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange under the existing "BN" ticker.
Brookfield Wealth Solutions was set up in 2021 with a structure that gave it access to Brookfield Corporation's capital base and investing platform. Its asset base has since grown to close to US$200 billion, lifted by the recent acquisition of UK retirement services provider Just Group plc.
The company said combining the two entities would give its insurance operations more direct access to Brookfield Corporation's balance sheet, while also supporting capital efficiency and offering greater flexibility as the group continues to build out its global insurance footprint.
The transaction is expected to be completed on a tax-efficient basis for most shareholders of both BN and BNT, according to the company.
Brookfield said it was still refining the implementation details, with final review by the boards of both companies expected in the coming weeks.
Subject to board sign-off, the deal will be put to shareholders as a special matter at both companies' 2026 annual general meetings, scheduled for July 16, 2026.
The planned merger caps a series of structural changes that Brookfield has worked through over the past year and a half, as it has sought to simplify the relationships between its parent company and its various listed affiliates.
Brookfield Wealth Solutions has built out its insurance platform through a mix of organic origination and acquisitions, expanding across US annuities, UK pension risk transfer, and property and casualty operations.
The Just Group transaction, completed earlier this year, brought a UK-based retirement services business into the fold and pushed total insurance assets close to US$200 billion.
The Brookfield announcement comes against a backdrop of sustained activity in insurance-related dealmaking.
Gallagher's Global M&A Insurance 2025 Review and 2026 Outlook pointed to resilience across the market in 2025, with cautious optimism for 2026 underpinned by deployable private equity capital, sturdy corporate balance sheets, and stabilizing interest rates.
The broker also flagged rising submission volumes and continued product innovation across core lines, conditions that have framed how strategic buyers, including insurance-heavy platforms such as Brookfield's, have approached portfolio expansion and capital structures.
The combined company resulting from the proposed merger would house Brookfield's insurance operations alongside its asset management, renewable power, infrastructure, private equity, and real estate businesses under a single listed vehicle.
No closing date has been disclosed for the simplification transaction, with timing dependent on board approval and the outcome of the July 16 shareholder votes at both companies.
