Insurance and annuity company Brighthouse Financial (BHF) has been trying to sell the company for the last 6 months or a year and there is news today on potential bidders etc.
I no longer hold any preferred shares in BHF, but there are 4 preferred issues and 1 baby bond outstanding and holders of all of these should consider potential options for their shares should an acquisition occur (i.e. sell or hold).
In an acquisition preferred may be handled in a number of ways. The acquiring company could delist the shares–meaning no public market would be available for buying or selling. They could redeem the shares at $25 (plus accrued dividends). And of course they could simple let shares remain outstanding and trading on NASDAQ. No one knows at this point in time what may happen.
Today we saw steep drops in preferred share prices as many investors decided to bail out already.
Be prepared.
A purchase by TPG, at first glance, would not be a horrible thing for holders of the preferred or BB. Being publicly traded is a plus. TPG has a BB outstanding that is IG, albeit close to junk.
With that said, based on the articles floating around, the chances of a sale is not a sure thing. I can only imagine BHF is disappointed a bit they did not have more than 2 suitors who were serious.